Grewal's accusations on May 18th

It was announced today that the RCMP has decided not to pursue a criminal investigation into the conversations that Grewal taped (see here. Some will no doubt be disappointed for partisan reasons; others will be happy for partisan reasons; still others will be relieved that this sorry affair is slipping over the horizon.

It might be worth remembering precisely what the accusations were. As many of you remember, just hours before a crucial non-confidence vote in the house on May 18th, Gurmant Grewal appeared before a press scrum and delivered his block-buster--he had taped four hours of secret negotiations with the Liberals. The video of his statement is still available at this CTV story, it is behind the link 'CTV Newsnet Live: Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal 5:46' on the right. A transcript is here. In light of the delay in the release of the tapes, I think it would be useful to review the statements of the principles in these first few days and judge them in light of what we know from the tapes themselves. I have inserted numbers into the text which correspond to commentary below.

Grewal: As you have already heard, (Reading a prepared statement) [1a] I was approached early this week by Ujjal Dosanjh [1b] and asked to abstain or vote with the government on the budget vote. [2] In exchange, I was given an understanding that I would be rewarded in some fashion. [3] Some of the options discussed were different diplomatic appointments, or a future senate seat for Nina. [4a] Yesterday I met with both Tim Murphy and Ujjal Dosanjh at their request. In Mr. Dosanjh's office and later on in my office. [4b] In that meeting, I was offered the opportunity to later talk with the Prime Minister by telephone, or to meet with him at 24 Sussex Drive about these possibilities. [5] Today, Tim Murphy came to my office,to meet me, where we discussed this further. [6] He told me that the Liberals were talking to three or four other Conservative MPs. [7] I told Mr. Murphy that if any offer was being made, I needed certainty about what it was and the timeframe involved. [8] Mr. Murphy told me he would get back to me. [9] At no time did I have any intention of accepting these offers. [10] I responded to Mr. Dosanjh's invitation and entered these discussions to determine the level to which the Liberal party and Paul Martin were willing to sink to save their government. Do you have any quick questions?

[1] 'I was approached early this week by Ujjal Dosanjh.' The tapes do not show who approached whom (see here), but the balance of evidence leans towards Grewal having made the intitial approach (see here). Grewal here glosses over Sadesh Kalia, who acted as middle-man to bring Grewal and Dosanjh together.

[1b] '… by Ujjal Dosanjh and asked to abstain or vote with the government on the budget vote.' Nowhere in the surviving tapes does Grewal discuss abstaining on the confidence-vote with Dosanjh. That discussion was with Murphy on the 18th (the morning of this news conference). The discussions in which Dosanjh was involved are about whether Grewal would cross the floor immediately and whether an apology from Volpe could be arranged.

[2] 'In exchange, I was given an understanding that I would be rewarded in some fashion.' This is half-correct. Both Dosanjh and Murphy clearly imply that there will be a future reward for crossing the floor. In this context, however, Grewal seems to imply that rewards were offered for abstaining or voting with the government in the confidence motion, which is not something that appears in any of the conversations in which Dosanjh was involved and is nowhere clearly proposed in the other tapes.

[3] "Some of the options discussed were different diplomatic appointments, or a future senate seat for Nina." This is highly misleading. Nowhere in the tapes are diplomatic appointments mentioned. According to Kalia (the middle-man), Grewal had asked that Nina be made ambassador to the UN, but this is nowhere in the tapes that we have them--except perhaps if there is an allusion to this when Murphy tell Grewal (Dosanjh-Murphy-Grewal, p. 6) that the Prime Minister did not think a reward 'outside politics' was the 'right thing to do'. (This got edited out of the first edition of the tapes.)

A senate seat does come up in the conversation. But it is Grewal asking for the senate seat (Dosanjh-Murphy-Grewal, p. 2 and ibid., p. 13 and ) and and both Dosanjh (ibid. p. 2) later Murphy (ibid., p. 14) explaining that this was not possible.

[4a] Yesterday I met with both Tim Murphy and Ujjal Dosanjh at their request. In Mr. Dosanjh's office and later on in my office.… Not quite correct. He met with Murphy and Dosanjh in Dosanjh's office 'yesterday' (i.e., May 17th) and with Murphy alone in Grewal's office on the 18th.

[4b] In that meeting, I was offered the opportunity to later talk with the Prime Minister by telephone, or to meet with him at 24 Sussex Drive about these possibilities. Again this is not quite accurate. Dosanjh does say at 2'37 of the Dosanjh-Murphy-Grewal tape that Martin would speak to Grewal (p. 2 of the transcript). Again at about 4'00 (p. 5 of the transcript) Murphy points out that a meeting with Martin is possible 'depending on how the conversations go'. (I've pulled together several other places where these comments are made here.)

[5] "Today, Tim Murphy came to my office,to meet me, where we discussed this further." Correct. We have a recording of this conversation.

[6] "He told me that the Liberals were talking to three or four other Conservative MPs." Murphy mentions that there were 'other members of your current caucus who are facing the same dilemna that you face' (p. 4 of the Murphy-Grewal transcript). As far as I can see no specific number was ever mentioned.

[7] "I told Mr. Murphy that if any offer was being made, I needed certainty about what it was and the timeframe involved." True. See p. 3 of the transcript: "Happy I will be when I know, not exactly but some sort of nature of what kind of things will happen after that -- what the time frame, what will happen, those kind of things you know."

[8] "Mr. Murphy told me he would get back to me." I can't find anywhere in the tapes where Murphy made such a commitment to a request for a firm offer. There are several places where Murphy offers to keep the lines of communication open.

[9-10] "At no time did I have any intention of accepting these offers. I responded to Mr. Dosanjh's invitation and entered these discussions to determine the level to which the Liberal party and Paul Martin were willing to sink to save their government." We have only Grewal's word for what his true intentions were. Where we can check his version of events against the tapes, he does not seem entirely truthful. Given that, I am inclined to doubt his word here.

Another point needs to be made. At the point of this news conference, Grewal and the Conservatives had not yet decided to release the tapes to the public. Grewal probably never expected that his version of events could be checked. As you can see, he took full advantage.