愛污传媒

Defence Minister Peter MacKay says he had no idea who Karlheinz Schreiber was when he took a job with Thyssen Industries in 1991 after becoming a lawyer.

Thyssen Industries is the arms manufacturer Schreiber represented in its failed bid to get a military equipment plant at Bear Head, N.S.

MacKay's father Elmer -- a former cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney's government and influential Nova Scotia politician -- is a friend and associate of Schreiber.

The elder MacKay has even helped post bail for the German-Canadian businessman. Over the years, Elmer MacKay has acted as a surety for bail as Schreiber has wound his way through the court system trying to avoid enforcement of an extradition order that would send him to Germany where he faces fraud and tax evasion charges.

Peter MacKay said Friday that he did not meet Schreiber until after he left Thyssen.

"When I was working with that company for a very short time, I had no idea who Mr. Schreiber was or what his association was with Thyssen,'' MacKay said.

"I had never met him.''

But Liberal MP Scott Brison says that's hard to believe.

"The notion from Peter MacKay that he didn't really know of the connection between Karheinz Schreiber and his job at Thyssen is not really credible," Brison alleged on 愛污传媒net's Mike Duffy Live.

"I mean, for most Canadians who have to spend time looking for work, the idea that jobs just appear like that miraculously without any work is a little questionable."

But the Conservatives downplayed Peter MacKay's connection to Thyssen. Tory MP James Moore told Mike Duffy Live that MacKay was just a "young university student 20 years go," and that he accepted a "summer job" with Thyssen.

In fact, MacKay was not a university student at the time he took the job. He was about 27-years-old. He had completed his undergraduate degree four years earlier, had graduated law school, and had even passed the bar exam. By the time MacKay began working for Thyssen he was a full-fledged lawyer.

MacKay told reporters Friday that he did meet Schreiber on a couple of occasions -- once during an undated family gathering and another time after he became a member of parliament.

He said that he had told his father in the past that he was leery of Schreiber.

"It was my opinion for a number of years that he should not associate with Mr. Schreiber, and I voiced that opinion," the younger MacKay said.

According to sworn testimony provided by Schreiber before a parliamentary ethics committee on Thursday, Elmer MacKay, Mulroney's Solicitor General, allegedly drafted a letter for Schreiber that was supposed to be given to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The letter -- which was intended to show that Schreiber and Mulroney were on good terms -- was to be delivered by Mulroney to Harper in 2006 during a retreat, according to Schreiber.

He also alleges that in exchange for the letter, Mulroney had told him he would discuss Schreiber's extradition with the prime minister.

Schreiber has said he learned about the retreat between Mulroney and Harper from the elder MacKay.

Elmer MacKay has neither confirmed nor denied writing the letter, but Harper has said he never received any such letter.

The allegations, however, prompted the prime minister to appoint a third-party investigator earlier this month to set up the parameters for an inquiry looking into the so-called Mulroney-Schreiber affair. Harper's move came after he had repeatedly denounced previous opposition calls for an inquiry.

The ethics committee hearings, which will again call on Schreiber in the coming weeks and will also hear from Mulroney -- were set up to look at issues that may not be covered by a future inquiry.

Schreiber has alleged that he paid Mulroney $300,000 for services after the former prime minister left office in 1993. He also said that discussions about the payments came up while Mulroney was still in office.

Mulroney has denied all accusations of wrong doing. None of the allegations has been proven in court.

With files from The Canadian Press