OTTAWA, June 06, 2005
CTV News
It's a tale about tapes, temptation and two Tories
-- but, beyond that, it's not clear just what happened.
Right now, everyone from police to politicians to
the federal ethics counsellor is trying to make sense
of the Gurmant Grewal affair.
Who made the first move? Did the Liberals somehow
approach Grewal and his MP wife, Nina, to cross the
floor and bolster their numbers in the lead up to
a do-or-die vote in Parliament?
Or was it the other way around? Was Grewal genuinely
looking for something?
And, what to make of the now infamous tapes?
Were they altered? And, if so, who did it and why?
What we do know is that Grewal's secret recordings
shed light on a bit of parliamentary backroom dealing.
But the tapes have also got people wondering if this
is the way the Liberals reeled in other defectors,
such as Belinda Stronach.
Just days before the crucial vote, Stronach - who
last year had been a candidate to lead the Conservatives
-- announced her defection. And, in doing that, she
vaulted straight into Paul Martin's cabinet.
When it comes to tempting a Tory, it's clear in the
case of Stronach, it worked.
But in the NRI, Grewal case, it backfired, leaving
the PM's chief of staff, Tim Murphy, and Health Minister,
NRI, Ujjal Dosanjh, to answer some tricky questions.
"The Prime Minister's chief of staff and his
minister of health are caught red-handed acting as
agents, trying to buy Tory votes," Conservative
Deputy Leader, Peter MacKay, said this past Friday
during question period in the House of Commons.
But the Liberals have stood their ground. They insist
Grewal came to them, looking for a senate seat or
some other plum job, for himself and his wife.
"It's very, very clear Grewal approached us.
He made repeated demands. Those demands were rejected,"
Dosanjh said this past week in Ottawa.
Piecing the murky story together, a timeline emerges
of what basically happened.
Before the budget vote
It begins with Stronach, and her decision to drop
her bombshell.
One of her main reasons for defecting, she says,
is her strong opposition to Conservative Leader, Stephen
Harper's plan to team up with the Bloc Quebecois to
topple the government.
"I do have a concern that lining up with the
Bloc is not good for the government," Stronach
says.
In announcing Stronach's defection, Martin insists
it has nothing to do with surviving the imminent non-confidence
vote in Parliament.
Many members of the media in attendance break into
laughter. And when the PM says "Wait a minute,
we still don't know whether the budget will pass or
not," there are more laughs.
Down the hall two hours later, Dosanjh visits Grewal's
office.
The health minister tells the B.C. MP that Stronach's
defection makes it easier for him to do the same --
and suggests Grewal use the a similar script.
"Use the same language," Dosanjh's voice
is heard saying on tape.
"This is the time to keep the country together.
You can't line up with the Bloc. You should go out
on a high principle."
The two men are joined by Murphy, who makes it clear
the Liberals need to be able to deny any suggestion
of buying votes.
"As you see, the PM will say 'We are not offering
and making no offers,'" Murphy says.
"And I think that is the narrative we want to
stick to. I don't want to make the Prime Minister
a liar."
While all this is happening, the Prime Minister is
on his way to Regina to meet the Queen.
But, while the PM isn't physically part of the conversations
with Grewal, Dosanjh says he is on board.
"He said he will be happy to talk to you over
the phone tonight or in person, if you want to move,"
Dosanjh is heard saying on tape.
The additional issue
Grewal, however, is thinking about more than an appointment.
He's upset that Immigration Minister Joe Volpe has
accused him of asking constituents to post bonds of
up to $250,000, in return for help with temporary
visas.
In his meeting with the Liberals, Grewal demands
an apology, and Murphy suggests he can maybe speed
up the investigation.
"To get the ethics commissioner to give the
interim report or something to take the cloud off
-- that would be helpful," Murphy is heard saying
on the tape.
Later, Murphy underlines concerns about the optics
of an immediate deal.
"I think it is a bad idea, truthfully, to have
any kind of commitment that involves an explicit trade,"
he says.
For Grewal, it's not enough of a guarantee.
"As long as there is uncertainty, I will not
be going ahead with it," he says.
And, even though he is secretly taping this conversation,
Grewal agrees with Murphy's pledge to keep their talks
private.
"You do know I can keep a secret," Murphy
says.
"Me, too," says Grewal.
But he didn't. And the Conservatives say Canadians
would have likely heard the same kind of deal-making
going on for Stronach, or even involving Scott Brison,
an earlier defector to the Liberals.
"It suggests a pattern of completely unethical
-- maybe illegal -- behaviour on behalf of the Liberal
Party where they use all sorts of inducements to lure
people over," Conservative MP Monte Solberg told
CTV News.
"That's pretty damning."
The Prime Minister, however, has deflected the harshest
of criticisms.
"Obviously, anybody would meet with somebody
interested in crossing the floor," Martin said
this past week during question period.
"But the fundamental fact is, Mr. Speaker, no
offer was made, no request was accepted."
For his part, Dosanjh says the tapes have been doctored,
that there are omissions and that some conversations
in Punjabi have been badly translated.
At the end of the day, however, what remains are
the words on the tapes -- and the resulting fiery
rhetoric in Parliament, with all the accusations and
counter accusations.
This much is clear: No one sounds good.
