New in Ethics report (1): new go-between says Grewal approached Liberals

A couple new figures appear in the Ethics Commissioner's report. These are men whom Grewal had instructed to approach the Liberals.

Mr. Dosanjh indicated that on Saturday, May 14, 2005, he received a telephone call from Mr. Bob Cheema, a businessman in the Vancouver-Surrey area acquainted with both Mr. Dosanjh and Mr. Grewal. According to Mr. Dosanjh, Mr. Cheema visited his home later that evening and suggested to him that Mr. and Mrs. Grewal would be willing to join the Government in return for a United Nations position or Senate appointment for her and a Cabinet post for him. According to the testimony of Mr. Manjit Singh Saini, a business acquaintance of Mr. Cheema, he (Mr. Saini) had been called prior to this event (in April or early May) by Mr. Cheema. Mr. Cheema informed Mr. Saini that, if Mr. Grewal were to be given a Cabinet post and his wife a Senate or United Nations post, Mr. Grewal would join the Liberal Party. Mr. Dosanjh reported that he informed Mr. Cheema on May 14, 2005 that, if the Grewals wanted to cross the floor, it was up to the Prime Minister to decide what, if any, appointment he might eventually make.

This complicates matters somewhat, since we had not heard about Cheema before. But the basic pattern remains the same: Grewal initiated the negotiations.