21 May Did Mulroney fall into an Oliphant trap?

If Commissioner Jeffrey Oliphant puts the boots to Brian Mulroney for  massive dissembling on the witness stand, the former PM will be in no position to complain. Oliphant made sure of that Wednesday.

As Mulroney ended six days of testimony,  the commissioner put one final question to him:

Mr. Mulroney, you’ve been on the stand for, I think, the longest of any witness I have either been involved in as a lawyer or in 24 years as a judge. I want to assure myself, before you leave, sir, that you feel, despite probing questions that may have been asked, that you leave here feeling that you’ve been treated fairly and with respect.

The former Prime Minister, under investigation for accepting unmarked, cash-stuffed envelopes from a foreign lobbyist shortly after leaving office, responded unctuously:

I think precisely that, Mr. Commissioner. Both you and  Mr. Wolson [the commission counsel], and his colleagues and other members of the group have treated me very fairly and with great respect. And the probing questions I thought were appropriate and didn’t either bother me or offend me in any way. And so the answer to the question is very much in the affirmative, and I thank you, sir, for your kindness.

As Oliphant must know, Mulroney’s counsel at the commission, Guy Pratte, is the lawyer who who succeeded in overturning Commissioner John Gomery’s finding that Jean Pelletier erred in his oversight of sponsorship program. The basis of the successful appeal? Perceived bias and unfairness [hattip: Steve Maher].

Having praised the fairness and respectfulness of the commission, its counsel, and the other lawyers who questioned him, and having thanked the commissioner for his kindness, Mulroney will have a hard time appealing any adverse ruling on those grounds.

After watching Mulroney’s dodgy answers and convoluted explanations for six days, Oliphant may have anticipated that his instinctive response to such a query would be fawning and obsequious.