Today at the Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, private investigator Derrick Snowdy said that Liberal party President Alfred Apps, a lawyer at Fasken Martineau, acted for accused fraudster Nazim Gillani. “Mr. Apps was the getaway driver for Mr. Gillani in a previous encounter,” Snowdy told the committee.
Within minutes, Fasken Martineau issued this statement:
Fasken Martineau, a leading international business law and litigation firm, made the following statement concerning comments made today before a House of Common's Committee. In November 2006:
Mr. Nazim Gillani of International Strategic Investments approached Fasken Martineau through one its partners, Alfred Apps, in connection with legal advice/services for International Strategic Investments. Mr. Apps met with Mr. Gillani, received documents from Mr. Gillani and accepted a retainer cheque from Mr. Gillani.
Mr. Apps previously had no knowledge of, or acquaintance with, Mr. Gillani.
Very shortly thereafter, Fasken Martineau declined to act on behalf of International Strategic Investments. Mr. Apps so advised Mr. Gillani and returned the retainer to Mr. Gillani.
Fasken Martineau has had no professional dealings with Mr. Gillani or International Strategic Investments in the intervening period.
I agree with what you said on Power & Politics. Smoke screen to divert attention away from the fact that all other “evidence” (so to speak) points to suspicious activity from Jaffer and lack of reaction from the government. Can't believe no one else picked up on that.
I witnessed your outrage on Power & Politics on two issues.
You seemed offended by intimations that Liberal Alf Apps was in any way connected to the “shady” businessman that all you PG guys very happily connected to a former Conservative MP.
Of course, if the “shady” guy is possibly connected to a Conservative, the allegation is credible; otherwise, not.
That's the way it apparently works with the PG.
But your outrage was even more pronounced when you said that Guy Giorno, the PM's chief of staff (?), had LIED, according to Snowdy's testimony.
I'm going to wait for a transcript of the committee meeting to be certain, and I will humbly eat my interpretation if I'm proven wrong, but I did not interpret that exchange the same way you did.
What I got from that exchange is the following:
• Snowdy spoke to a person from the Ethics Commissioner's office. I don't recall the name nor who initiated the call.
• The Ethics person read from an email he had received from Guy Giorno, listing some allegations Snowdy might or might not have made.
• Snowdy responded to the Ethics person that he had not made any of the allegations read to him from the email.
• The Ethics person concluded that there was thus nothing for him to proceed on.
• Snowdy was angry that he was fingered for purportedly being the source of the allegations.
You interpreted all of that as Snowdy saying Guy Giorno lied.
I interpreted that as Guy Giorno, through whatever means — perhaps by reading Kevin Donovan's “exposé” in the Toronto Star — sent on those allegations for the Ethics Commissioner to conduct an investigation. Those allegations, possibly culled from the Toronto Star or other sources, were listed in the email the Ethics person read from.
It is quite a leap for you to say so categorically that Snowdy accused Giorno of lying. But as I said earlier, I'll gladly eat humble pie if proven wrong by the transcript.
David watched your interview on CBC. You and some in the media need a phsyciatric assessment. Everybody in the media and the opposition parties were calling for Guergis' head for weeks since the PEI episode. In the criticism what they sighted was how ineffective a cabinet minister she was. Iffy cried that Harper's judgement was at stake because he refused to fire her. No worry about fairness there particuarly now that we see the airport incident was much about nothing. However, everybody piled on to such an extent that her career has been destroyed. Now the media and the opposition are all sympathetic towards her. Do you guys really know what you are doing? That is why the PM never repeated the allegations publicly despite your trying to lay it on Giorno etc. Harper didn't know the truth. However, these kind of allegations proven or otherwise would see the party brought into disrepute and of course the opposition and people like you would have had a field day. Get off your high horse and be honest with Canadians. Cabinet Ministers serve at the pleasure of the PM. He did not know the truth and so he referred it to the appropriate authorities but the vultures in the media and the opposition were not prepared to let the authorities deal with it. So the media and the opposition can thank themselves on a job well done. Whether the PM acted too soon is neither here nor there.
'
Apps has some questions to answer. What were the documents about? Was there anything related to Jaffer in there? Why did the firm decline to represent him? When, precisely, did all of this happen? Did Alf Apps break lawyer-client confidentiality by dishing dirt on Jaffer to fellow Liberals?
These are very serious allegations, and they deserve a much more serious response than this non-statement from the law firm. Mr. Apps needs to address this personally.
@anonymous
If you were paying attention, you would understand the Alfred Apps involvement began and ended in 2006. Get it?
Bizarrely (hello Blogware!!) I can't post the link here but see my next post after this one: “Private eye says PMO's chief of staff got it wrong: The transcript”
Mervin, please remember that comment in all your “inpartial” postings. You practice the same culture of deceit as your party of choice.
Parnel
Apps has nothing to answer for. He did what all responsible law firms do. He checked the background of the file and the proponents and his firm decided not to take the mandate.
This just gets better and better and… How are the Libranos going to get out of this one? (real conservative)
Parnel…..I didn't know you were still around. Oh, I forgot you spew your anti Conservative venom under many aliases.
You know that what I said is true. However, your Liberal partisanship will not let you admit it. Cheers.
Since Apps' name has been raised and there is some dispute as to how long his relationship with Gillani lasted he should be summoned before the committee. Since he is no longer the lawyer for Gillani supposedly he is not subject to the rules of solicitor/client priviledge.
However, I must admit this is just a diversion. While the media loves this stuff the fact is we now have learned that the airport incident was not really a melt down but a smear job by the Liberal party (Wayne Easter) and its supporters. We now know that Snowdy had no direct evidence that Guergis did anything wrong.
We do know that Jaffer appears to have been lobbying the government for his various projects. This should be the nature of the inquiry by the committee. Talking about hookers and asking the P.I. what Harper thinks and why he acted the way he did is simply stupid.
However, like many non scandals in the past the MPs can't avoid grandstanding. The Lib named Coady should give a lesson to her fellow MPs on how to ask questions.
Says who? Not the P.I.
The P.I. contradicted him. No problem bring the evidence before the committee. What are you afraid of? Oh, I know a Liberal says so and therefore it must be true.
Below all the name calling and the he said, she said stuff is the simple fact that Harper disposed of a cabinet minister and caucus colleague without ANY due process or without giving her the basic right of habeas corpus, the right to know what one is charged with having done wrong.
Turns out the smoking gun list of charges was written by Harper's chief of staff. Harper has more in common with radical Middle Eastern clergy who do not believe in all that habeas corpus and due process stuff than he does with any law and order agenda.
I hope Guergis sues Harper for millions….