Grewal's pension in the news and in the tapes

There's a story in the Maple Ridge News about BC's nine ex-MPs and their pensions, including

Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal, who the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation says will draw a pension now worth $41,215 per year when he turns 55. He also gets severance worth $72,150 because he hasn’t yet reached 55, the age when the pension kicks in.

MPs' pension is not something that I'm normally much interested in--it's usually an occasion for chest thumping and moralization. But given that Grewal's pension came up in the tapes, it would be remiss of me to leave this out, especially since it's something that I haven't brought up before.

This is part of the transcript of the conversation in Dosanjh's office on the 17th. Tim Murphy's arrival interrupts. Again, yellow marks text that was cut out of the May 31st recording and its transcripts. Text in red was left of all transcripts and appears in public here for the first time. The Punjabi was transcribed by Raj, Sohn, and Mandeep. If anyone wants to double check, they can download the files here.

UD	Vaise taa, it is not an easy thing. I wouldn’t. You really have to think. Main aap sochda haan, Waheguru karega taa it might be possible. Nobody will make you totally blunt promise. That is not done is politics usually. (NOT CLEAR). You might be better off for yourself, about asking all you are looking for is for your wife rather than for you, because you will have a pension or something, you can go right away… You can ask for both, but that might be the only thing that might be feasible. I haven’t talked to them, that’s just my way of thinking. Main tuhade naal gal kar riha haan, tusi kidaan karna hai vekh lao. I think you should tell Tim what you have in mind. Edaan nahin kadey vee hunda ki mainu aah cheez chahidi hai taan karoon. Then that’s not good for you. I know that you might not be ready to do it right now you certainly be looking for a significant appointment for her, not for you. How old are you now?	In fact, it is not an easy thing. I wouldn’t. You really have to think. My own thinking is that, if the God wishes, it might be possible. Nobody will make you totally blunt promise. That is not done is politics usually. (NOT CLEAR). You might be better off for yourself, about asking all you are looking for is for your wife rather than for you, because you will have a pension or something, you can go right away… You can ask for both, but that might be the only thing that might be feasible. I haven’t talked to them, that’s just my way of thinking. I am just telling you, you decide what to do. I think you should tell Tim what you have in mind. It never works like this that you give me such and such thing and I’ll do it. Then that’s not good for you. I know that you might not be ready to do it right now you certainly be looking for a significant appointment for her, not for you. How old are you now?
AA	47	47
BB	te tuhadi pension?	And your pension?
AA	Athth saalan ‘ch	In 8 years
BB	Athth saalan lai?	For 8 years?
AA	Athth saalan tak… 55 lug jange	After 8 years… I will be 55.

Now, as is often the case with the editing of the Grewal recordings, it is fairly clear why the yellow had been cut from the May 31st tape and transcript: Dosanjh is assuming that Grewal is doing the asking here, not the Liberals doing the offering. But when the new transcript was prepared, why was the red left out? Presumably because it was something that the Liberals could point to as proof that no clear deal was on the table. Again, however, one wonders why bother. One could read over the sentence without noticing that implication, and leaving it out (when exposed) makes one assume the worst motives.

Appendix
For your comparison, the transcript that was uploaded on Grewal's site on June 5th is here (this transcript goes with the June 2d tape):

And the May 31st transcript:


The soundfiles have been archived here, where you can download them and double check my work. (This passage is about 5 minutes into the June 2d tape.)