Money Roars!

"I think the important thing in something like this is that we live in a democracy. People are entitled to pursue whatever political visions that they have, but once they make that decision they have to sever totally their relationship with any public corporation. Mr. Peladeau understood that, he submitted his resignation from all of his involvement in Quebecor and we accepted his resignation."
former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney

Quebecor Inc. president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau, right, talks with former prime minister Brian Mulroney during the company's annual general meeting in Montreal Wednesday, May 9, 2012. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

"The whole scheme is predicated on (Peladeau) being able to take a leave of absence as it were, without losing value. Mr. Mulroney's value is to maintain the value of that company so that at some point Peladeau or his heirs can benefit."
"Given the fact that he's been associated with that company for many years he probably knows the company very well. ... Mr. Peladeau would feel a degree of reassurance that it won't all go down the tubes. If all of that is correct, objectively, that puts Brian Mulroney in the position of enabling, facilitating, assisting Peladeau's current activities."
"I find it a bit strange when we're talking about the future of Canada, and we're talking about a former prime minister of Canada, and we're talking about a former prime minister of Canada who went to great efforts on the national unity front."
Norman Spector, former Mulroney chief of staff  1990 - 1992

Nothing makes stranger bedfellows than money, if money is to be attained. Say, for example, a prime minister playing familiar with a well-known shady character who acts as a lobbyist for a foreign arms manufacturer with plenty of persuasive-money to lavish on those who can advance his agenda. Imagine, if you can, a prime minister of impeccable tradition, trading in honour for several hundred thousand dollars of unexplained provenance courtesy of that same gamey lobbyist.

That's the same man who befriended and brought into his cabinet while in office, a man who would be so disillusioned by the failure of Meach Lake, a Brian Mulroney solution to Quebec's disaffection with Canada, that he would give birth to a federal separatist party which the Canadian taxpayer would be destined to pay for while Lucien Bouchard busied himself channeling his energies into partnering with the Parti Quebecois to achieve secession from Canada.

His choice of friends more or less define the man, perhaps. Take, for example his friendship with Quebecor's founder, Pierre Peladeau, a friendship that goes way, way back, despite the knowledge that this man was a committed sovereigntist, a confidant of Rene Levesque. This man dedicated to the separation of Quebec from Confederation dined at 24 Sussex Drive as befits the courtesy bestowed on those with money and influence.

Brian Mulroney as a purported mentor to Pierre Karl Peladeau recently confessing to a passion for sovereignty and offering himself as a power-candidate for the Parti Quebecois for the upcoming election for the very purpose of fomenting for separation, did not do a very good job of mentoring the  younger Peladeau. Perhaps he failed to make a persuasive enough argument for Canadian unity.

Mr. Mulroney, as a high-priced corporate lawyer with a prestigious law firm in Quebec, likes the power, influence and money he garners through his close connections of a secessionist kind. Although one should hesitate to describe him as a sanctimonious hypocrite, journalists claim him to be 'upset' and 'disappointed' with Peladeau's sovereigntist disclosure and decision to join the separatist party, transforming himself from a media baron to a political figure.

Despite which, however, he plans to avoid any further political comment. He plans to stay on in his involvement with Quebecor. For it is to this patriotic Canadian's monetary advantage. There is no motive like the Profit Motive to persuade people who value it of the choices they must make. Mulroney is the vice-chairman of Quebecor's board of directors. He earns an undisclosed sum in legal fees, acting on the company's behalf in legal matters, as well as earning $244,520 in direct board compensation.

As a partner at Norton Rose he is "principal legal counsel to the corporation", where Quebecor represents Mulroney's biggest client at the law firm. Stock options owned by Mr. Mulroney in Quebecor are adjudged to the value of $1,115,669. Imperil all that just to stand up for Canadian unity?

Perish the very thought. Are you completely mad?