Voters Will Punish Harper for Mulroney's Sins

Political leaders often take credit for things that happen under their watch, whether or not they are directly or indirectly responsible.

But more often, we measure our politicians on our perception of their ability to manage a crisis once it happens. With its latest misstep, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is lifting the heavy, dirty rug that previously hid bags of money and one sullied former Prime Minister – and making room for the whole Conservative Party down below.

Yesterday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said he had no authority to block the impending (Dec. 1) extradition of Karlheinz Schreiber to Germany. The Commons ethics committee looking into Schreiber’s dealings with former PM Brian Mulroney would have to proceed without its star witness because, he claimed, because the federal government had no jurisdiction.

Parliamentary lawyers, meanwhile, argued the minister clearly has the power under the federal Extradition Act to amend the order and keep Schreiber in the country as long as his testimony is required. Schreiber’s presence is crucial to the Commons hearing, and will be even moreso to the public inquiry, the terms of which are to be released Jan. 11.

When pressed during Question Period today on the issue of jurisdiction, Nicholson declined to answer any questions because the matter was “before the courts.” Refusing to answer a procedural question such as, “Who’s in charge?” does not jeopardize any proceedings, be they before courts of law or Commons committees.

He knows this. He also knows that there is no obligation under the Canadian-German extradition treaty to extradite Canadian nationals – and Schreiber is a Canadian.

Nicholson also knows that Schreiber has promised to keep his mouth shut about the whole Airbus affair if he is forced to leave the country. And the German government, who wants him on bribery, fraud and tax evasion charges, would be unlikely to let him out of jail to testify in Canada.

This appearance of being less than co-operative and of shirking responsibility comes just weeks after Harper obstreperously dismissed initial calls for a public inquiry, warning opposition parties of the dangers of giving him any more power, even threatening to look into business dealings of former Liberal prime ministers.

When this is all said and done in a few years, and newspapers are printing timelines showing the sequence of events leading up to the inquiry, they will show that this Conservative Party never wanted this inquiry to begin with, and that they deliberately eschewed opportunities to ensure the star witness would be able to testify.

Whether or not they have something to hide, they are giving the impression that they do. This will be particularly damning if there is any hint of a connection -- however remote -- with the current government because their actions will have lost them the benefit of any doubt.

This may well be the first crisis the Conservative Party has had to manage that wasn’t of their own doing. If they’re not careful, it could wind up the one issue to define this government in parts of Canada in the same way that the Gomery Commission caused lasting damage to the Liberal brand in Quebec.

There is a lot at stake here.