For What It's Worth...

The immediate prime ministerial predecessors of current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- a man of undoubted integrity himself -- did not, by their actions while in office and on departing from public office, comport themselves with faultless discretion. There was and continues to be an unmistakable whiff of self-serving arrogance and impropriety with respect to personal judgement on the part of both former prime ministers Brian Mulroney (Conservative) and his successor, Jean Chretien (Liberal). 

Mr. Chretien who jocularly liked to describe himself as the "little man from Shawinigan" had street-wise tendencies that erupted from time to time, betraying his true character. And Mr. Mulroney, ever the businessman-lawyer jostling for self-availment, never quite departed from that facet of his character. His most obvious departure from the practise of sound decision-making was a secret deal made with the shadowy character Karl-Heinz Schreiber, a lobbyist for the arms industry.

CHRIS WATTIE / REUTERS  Former prime minister Brian Mulroney testifies at the Oliphant Commission in Ottawa, May 12, 2009. The inquiry into Mulroney's business dealings with German-Canadian arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber issued its report May 31, 2010.

Mr. Mulroney's untoward, secretive dealings with Mr. Schreiber had resulted in a two-year enquiry concluding that the former prime minister acted "inappropriately" in accepting rather large amounts of under-the-table cash from the German-Canadian arms lobbyist. A report by Justice Jeffrey Oliphant stated that Mr. Mulroney "failed to live up to the standard of conduct that he himself adopted in his 1985 ethics code."

Justice Oliphant stated he found Mr. Mulroney's testimony that he had unhappily and regretfully merely committed an error in judgement by accepting at least $225,000 (and purportedly far more) in cash less than candid, and that the judge himself held more to the impression that the former prime minister had acted as he did in an effort to keep those transactions out of the news and the shame of public scrutiny, and quite obviously, for very good reasons.

For his part, former prime minister Jean Chretien, apart from his scandalous transactions while in office with one episode after another of questionable activities meant to enhance his private holdings as a shareholder in an enterprise in Shawinigan, and his fast-and-loose principles in permitting public funds to be used to advantage Liberal stalwarts, also used his time in office to pave his own future as a lobbyist on the international scene.

Hired by the then-prestigious law firm Heenan Blaikie after his retirement from public life, as an adviser with the law firm, which required not necessarily that Mr. Chretien polish up his long-disused qualifications as a lawyer, but that he take care to furnish on their behalf opportunities to gain advantage for the law firm through the many and varied contacts Mr. Chretien had manoeuvred himself into during political high-level meetings with his foreign counterparts.

"People like me said to themselves, 'I want to work at a firm that values the practice of law in Canada, not international dictators. It's not what I signed up for", said one former Heenan partner, explaining why he parted company with the law firm last year, in the wake of the sudden dissolution of the law firm that had about 500 lawyers on staff between Toronto and Montreal, a smaller office in Ottawa, established especially for Mr. Chretien's 'comfort', and an operation in Paris.

It would appear that the law firm's distraction from its main focus, as an internal Canadian business oriented company was latterly drawn into international affairs, extending itself in a manner quite outside its normal field of legal practise. "Partners started to lose any kind of faith in the management of the firm. There was a loss of trust in the partnership, and I think the origin is in the Jacques Bouchard story", explained Jean-Francois Mercadier, managing partner of the Paris office.

Mr. Bouchard, a Montreal lawyer and registered lobbyist acted for defence contractors before joining the Heenan firm in 2005 as director of international business working closely with Mr. Chretien, the special counsel. This did not represent a new alliance for the two, since Mr. Bouchard had worked on Mr. Chretien's political campaigns. The two men focused on a new African mandate, in mining and energy sectors, visiting with heads of state, inclusive of thuggish dictator Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.

Then it was revealed through investigative journalism that Mr. Bouchard had a connection with notorious international lobbyist Ari Ben-Menashe, who had also worked on behalf of Robert Mugabe. The investigative report revealed that Mr. Bouchard had met with the president of Central African Republic, signing a contract to obtain "at least a dozen" Russian attack helicopters, for the small former French colony. Mr. Bouchard had introduced Mr. Ben-Menashe of dubious reputation to Mr. Chretien.

Le Monde Juridique   The launch of Heenan Blaikie’s Paris office. From left to right, co-founder Roy Heenan, former partner Jacques Bouchard, S. E. Marc Lortie and former prime minister Jean Chrétien.

"It started to unravel everything. It caused many of the partners to question what they were doing at Heenan. There was such a mistrust of management", said one former partner. According to another former Heenan partner, the law firm's management thought "it was sexy to have Chretien bringing in these big [international] files even though it was not hourly billable work, [more] than  it was to have small manufacturing companies who would stick around for 20 years. This became a huge issue among the partners."

A former Heenan partner who had collaborated with Mr. Bouchard on African files stated she was instructed on one occasion to prepare an agreement for the sale of a warship to South Africa. "Legally speaking, it wasn't working. But he wanted me to find a solution. Then the day after, it was something about weapons. It was like being in a movie." The experience, she said, "was insane". She decided to leave the firm. "I said I'm not going to [do] what he wants, because I'm not like that, I'm straight and I'm honest and that's it.' It was a devastating experience for me."

The firm's first resident Paris lawyer was Lucie Bourthoumieux, a native of Ivory Coast. "I don't have the same style of business as Jacques Bouchard. And I told that to the directors... I met all the stars. And I told them that I'm very pleased to work with them, but I'm not an open-door woman. I'm a business lawyer woman. I have a certain moral, a certain ethic. And they took the position of Jacques Bouchard, knowing it was the wrong position. I really don't know how Heenan Blaikie could think this kind of behaviour is normal."

She left the firm. The Paris group was to organize "a big trip to Africa to visit various governments, with a team of Paris [and] Jacques Bouchard and Jean Chretien. Mr. Chretien was not available". Then Paris personnel were to attend the UN's General Assembly in New York to network with African leaders, Mr. Chretien providing the introductions, so "a lot of business [could] come out of that." It didn't materialize.

In 2009 a former Heenan client, Griffiths Energy International enlisted Mr. Chretien and Mr. Bouchard to aid the advancement of its interests in Chad, a notoriously corrupt central African country.  The company directed that $2-million be gifted to the wife of Chad's ambassador to the United States and Canada, to pave the way for its acquisition of oil and gas properties in the country. This represented a criminal act in both the U.S. and Canada.

Desirey Minkoh/AFP/Getty Images      The Central African Republic’s Francois Bozizé and his wife Monique in 2004.

Heenan Blaikie is no more, dissolved. Some of its more senior partners have been able to quite readily take up new positions in other Canadian law firms. Mr. Chretien, now 80, and still raring to go, has found himself another cushy office where he can continue to take business for his new law firm to places like China where, as prime minister, he led large trade delegations, being feted by the Chinese, and making the personal acquaintance of many of their business and government elites.

Canada's former prime minster Jean Chrétien was out of work when law firm Heenan Blaikie announced in Februrary it was closing down.

Dentons Canada, the law firm that brought the former prime minister aboard for their company, has praised Chrétien's leadership and experience in international diplomacy.