Schreiber Committee

Yesterday I watched what I could of the Ethics committee questioning Karlheinz Schreiber (NB Karlheinz is a great name for a pet) and I was fairly engrossed. CTV had video of the entire hearing. I understood a little now of why when the OJ trial ended in the 90s my dad went through withdrawal.

The proceedings were a little stilted at times, with Schreiber given too much latitude to refuse to answer questions. I'm not up to speed enough on what powers parliamentary committees have, but I would think being in contempt of parliament by stonewalling without justification could carry some penalty. Granted if the most severe penalty is jail that will be of little persuasive force for Schreiber to cooperate - but perhaps some other penalty could be used, something to the effect that if he doesn't cooperate he will be extradited sooner rather than later. The matter is clouded by the concurrent processes of an inquiry and regular extradition proceedings but if the committee is savvy enough maybe they could elicit significant information more expeditiously than the inquiry.

From Schreiber's point of view I think he could have a little fun with parliamentary privilege (meaning his words can't be used against him in a legal proceeding) attaching to his testimony - he could make statements of questionable veracity calculated to entice the committee and others to want to keep him in Canada.