May 26: CTV: Grewal on English language course in late May 2005

CTV Television, Inc.
SHOW: COUNTDOWN
May 26, 2005, Thursday 20:00:00 - 21:00:00 Eastern Time
LENGTH: 454 words

HEADLINE: Countdown's Insider

ANCHOR: MIKE DUFFY

MIKE DUFFY: Just finish that burger, oh, no, what am I saying. Our
Ottawa insider, speaking of burgers, we're talking steak here, the lovely and
talented Jane Taber is back at her usual spot at Hy's Steakhouse in Ottawa
with her unique perspective on what's going on behind the scenes on
Parliament Hill. Here's Jane. Jane the Prime Minister seemed to have the wind
in his sails when he was addressing the Canadian Club and the Empire Club
here in Toronto today, and I actually had a call from a Liberal MP who said we
have got our mojo back and we're actually going to go after Gurmant Grewal
and perhaps see if he couldn't be charged with soliciting a benefit on that
whole business of taping in terms of trading for votes and so on. So it sounds
to me like the Liberals have their confidence back and are on the attack and
they want to make Mr. Grewal a target.

JANE TABER [Countdown's Insider]: Well it's going to be an ugly story. In
fact, I was talking to John Reynolds, of course a veteran Tory MP, today, Mike,
just as he was boarding a ferry to go to Vancouver, and he was telling me that
they're not letting up on this Grewal story at all. In fact the party has hired a
top-notch lawyer in Vancouver who is a Punjabi Canadian, and he won't give
me her name, but she is advising the Grewals on this as well as the party on
how to proceed. And of course those tapes now are being translated, or
transcribed and translated. It takes a long time. Four hours of tape, Mike, some
of it in Punjabi and other, parts of it in English.

DUFFY: The Tories obviously sense that the Liberals are going to get into this
in a big way. We've seen the Prime Minister's office in the past, they've been
quite litigious, throwing lawsuits at journalists and others and now, from what
you tell me, the Tories expect some kind of legal assault from the Liberals
against them on the issue of these tapes.

TABER: I think so. They're getting their ducks in order on this one Mike in
anticipation of the House of course coming back next week. The other thing
that Mr. Reynolds told me, is that Mr. Grewal has not gone missing. He's
actually in New Brunswick on language training. He's brushing up on his English
pronunciation at a government school in New Brunswick. So that's where he
is this week.

DUFFY: Most of the time people go to the language school to learn French,
but I guess in this case if you're going to communicate you have to make sure
you speak clearly.

TABER: Exactly.

DUFFY: Great to talk to you, Jane. Glad to see the crowd there. Cobb salad
is my favourite, remember.

TABER: We know that.

DUFFY: Take care, see you tomorrow night.

TABER: Thanks, Mike.