Modeling Journey

Little bits of information are making their way past the restrictions imposed on the Harper government commission into the payments made by Karlheinz Schreiber to former PM Mulroney. The commission has a mandate which surprisingly limits it inquiries to the recently disclosed cash payments to our former prime minister in assorted hotel rooms.

Under no circumstances is it supposed to widen its inquiry into what happened to the payments allegedly made by Schreiber to various Canadians from the fees he was paid when Airbus sold planes to Canada.

But – like the proverbial little Dutch boy who tried to stem the leaking dyke by putting his finger in the fissure – driblets of information keep making their way from the Airbus fees into the discussion of exactly what Mulroney did to justify his $300,000 cash payments (Schreiber's amount) or $225,000 payments (Mulroney's number).

The Cat makes a fearless forecast: Karlheinz Schreiber will surprise the commission (and delight hordes of media types thirsting for the opening of the Airbus inquiry) by somehow placing into public view further evidence which tantalizingly suggests that the Airbus matter has not been finally resolved by the Mounties' investigation (an investigation which, by the way, did not turn up the cash payments in the hotel rooms to the former PM).

And then Karlheinz will sit back and wait for the public pressure to get to the bottom of the missing millions to swell yet again, perhaps resulting in a new inquiry.

And perhaps his disclosures, if he does make any and can make any, might lead the three opposition parties to legislate a new inquiry, designed to get to the bottom of Airbus in a full and frank way.

After all, everyone who is a stakeholder (Schreiber, Mulroney, Canadians whose faith in democracy need bolstering) has an interest in putting this to bed, after all possible facts and angles have been thoroughly explored.