May 26, 2005: Toronto Star editorial: Release Grewal's tapes

Copyright 2005 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.
The Toronto Star
May 26, 2005 Thursday
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A24

LENGTH: 317 words

HEADLINE: Release Grewal's tapes

BODY:

Were Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals caught out trying to negotiate the support of Conservative MPs Gurmant Grewal and Nina Grewal before last week's crucial confidence vote in Parliament which the government just barely survived? That is what Gurmant Grewal claims.

Or did Grewal go fishing for a federal appointment for helping the Liberals prevail, only to be firmly rebuffed? That's what Martin's chief of staff Tim Murphy and Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh say.

Or did all of the above take place?

In overheated Ottawa last week, anything might have happened.

Canadians will never fully know what went on unless Conservative leader Stephen Harper prevails on Grewal to release four hours of tapes he says he made before the vote.

So far, Grewal has made public only a brief eight-minute excerpt. That is not enough to gauge any party's credibility, or to judge whether the talks were merely seedy, or unethical, or unlawful. While Harper is prepared to turn the tapes over to the Mounties for review, he should also make them available publicly.

In the brief excerpt offered by the Tories, Murphy appears to say it is a "bad idea" to cut deals or to lie about them. However, if an MP were to abstain on the vote "in a principled way," Murphy says, "we can have a discussion that welcomes someone to the party." But discussions in advance on a specific appointment just aren't on, he adds.

Absent more context, this isolated snippet does not prove wrongdoing by any party. Unlike Belinda Stronach's walk to the Liberal side, the Grewal-Murphy musings did not affect the vote.

Still, the excerpts confirm some fancy dancing was going on that does not make anyone look especially good. It would be instructive to know more.

The Liberals want the tapes released in their entirety so Canadians can judge the full record for themselves. That seems right. The Conservatives want us to settle for snippets. Why?

May 26, 2005: Toronto Star: Volpe says he took no part in wooing Grewal

The Toronto Star
May 26, 2005 Thursday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A06

HEADLINE: Volpe says he took no part in wooing Tory MP

BYLINE: Robert Benzie and Sean Gordon, Toronto Star

Immigration Minister Joe Volpe insists he stayed out of efforts to convince a Conservative MP to abstain from a key budget vote. In the latest twist to the controversy swirling around a private chat between Tory MP Gurmant Grewal (Newton-North Delta) and Tim Murphy, Prime Minister Paul Martin's chief of staff, Volpe said yesterday he couldn't go along with an apparent request from Grewal.

Volpe said he distanced himself from the recruitment effort after being told Grewal wanted him to halt an RCMP probe of his activities.

Earlier this month, Volpe asked the RCMP and the federal ethics commissioner to examine accusations that Grewal and another Tory MP improperly sought money from people seeking admission to Canada.

Volpe said he was adamant he wouldn't interfere with the RCMP investigation in return for Grewal's help in the vote.

The talks last week were aimed at getting Grewal to abstain from a vote last Thursday that could have toppled the minority government of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. Grewal secretly taped the talks. He voted against the government, which survived the non-confidence vote on a tie-breaker from Speaker Peter Milliken.

Grewal says he was offered possible patronage appointments in return for helping to prop up the government.

The government countercharged that his key demand was an end to the RCMP probe.

"I wasn't part of the conversation between Mr. Murphy and Mr. Grewal, but ... I was alerted to a conversation and that Mr. Grewal was making a series of requests," the minister said after a speech at the University of Toronto.

In an excerpt of a taped conversation released by Grewal, Murphy says, "I will talk to Volpe and get something happening," and later Murphy adds, "I have talked to Volpe already." To which Grewal replies: "Is he manageable?" "Yes," says Murphy.

Senior Liberals have said Murphy was simply referring to the possibility of an apology from Volpe for attacks against Grewal in the Commons.

But those explanations hold no truck with the Conservatives.

Tory spokesman Geoff Norquay said Murphy still must account for why it is he appeared to be engaged in negotiations with Grewal, who secretly taped the conversation and has released portions of it.

"It's still for Tim Murphy to explain what he meant by the reference to Mr. Volpe in the conversation," he said.

Yesterday, Volpe said he indicated misgivings to Murphy about Grewal.

"(Murphy) was very objective. He didn't suggest that anything be done and I said to him: 'Well, you know, good luck for you if you're going to have a conversation with him,'" he said, adding Martin's chief of staff agreed that "none of us would ever go in that direction" by doing anything untoward.

"And I said: 'Good, then we're all on the same page.'"

Grewal, who was travelling to New Brunswick and could not be reached yesterday, said he spoke at length with Murphy and was offered a diplomatic post for himself and a Senate seat for his wife, Nina, also a Tory MP, in exchange for skipping last week's budget vote.

The Tories also confirmed yesterday they have hired a translator to sift through several hours of previously unreleased tapes to provide a transcript of other discussions between Grewal and Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh that took place in Punjabi.

The transcript will likely not be completed until the end of the week. The Tories say they will hand over the tapes and transcripts to "appropriate authorities" but have not said whether they will be made public.

Dosanjh insists Grewal approached him through a mutual friend - an account the person in question supports - while Grewal maintains Dosanjh sought him out.

May 26 (Ottawa Sun): LIBERAL BROKER: GREWAL 'USED ME'

Copyright 2005 Sun Media Corporation
The Ottawa Sun
May 20, 2005 Friday
FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 312 words

HEADLINE: LIBERAL BROKER: GREWAL 'USED ME'

BYLINE: BY KATHLEEN HARRIS, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU

BODY:


The middleman who claims he was enlisted by Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal to facilitate his defection to the Liberals feels "used" by his friend.

Sudesh Kalia accused Grewal of making "false" statements about how senior Liberals courted him to cross the floor in exchange for plum cabinet and Senate positions for himself and his MP wife, Nina.

"He used me, and if he had planned that, he's not my friend then," Kalia, a B.C. businessman and longtime pal of Grewal, told the Sun.

According to Kalia, Grewal called him out of the blue Sunday. Grewal said rumours about him being offered a Senate seat were false, but later indicated he'd be interested in joining the Grits.

"He said 'I will consider it if they accept my demands,' " Kalia said. "He gave me demands."

Kalia, a provincial and federal Liberal who is also a personal friend of Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, offered to arrange a meeting with the minister. Grewal accepted and they met Monday, but Dosanjh vehemently denied making any offers.

NO PROMISES

Late Wednesday, Grewal released an eight-minute excerpt of a taped conversation with Tim Murphy, the PM's chief of staff. While Murphy makes no offers or promises of favours in exchange for abstaining on the budget vote, he implies there could be future discussions about appointments.

"I think it's a bad idea, truthfully, to have any kind of commitment that involves an explicit trade," Murphy said on tape.

Yesterday, the Tories refused to immediately release the tapes in their entirety, including conversation in Punjabi between Grewal and Dosanjh.

Tory spokesman Geoff Norquay said some of the audiotape will take time to be translated, and that he felt it important to get the most "useful" part out immediately.

Norquay insisted Grewal was approached by the Grits, not the other way around. "He didn't initiate the process, period."

kathleen.harris@tor.sunpub.com

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.