Presumed Guilty: Brian Mulroney, the Airbus Affair, and the Government of Canada

J.L. Granatstein, distinguished research professor emeritus of history
at York University, is the author of Who Killed Canadian History?, and
co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influential Canadians of the
20th Century and the Dictionary of Canad

Brian Mulroney is the politician Canadians love to hate. The man who
gave us Free Trade and the GST, the prime minister who wore the Guccis
and practised patronage with great zeal was not greatly admired—though
he did win two huge electoral victories. But was Mulroney corrupt? Did
he take money from middlemen when Air Canada gave a contract to Airbus
Industries for a huge fleet of passenger jets? The Canadian government
appeared to believe so, for the Department of Justice sent an official
letter to the Swiss government suggesting just that. The letter
inevitably leaked, Mulroney was suitably indignant, and the press had a
field day.

William Kaplan is a lawyer, historian, and professor who was written
extensively. He approached Mulroney for access to his records of the
Airbus case and, having received it, proceeded to use this access to
squeeze cooperation out of other players in government. The result is a
very detailed, fair, but ultimately conclusive book that completely
vindicates Mulroney in the Airbus case. Along the way Kaplan sharply
criticizes the incompetent RCMP; the Mulroney-hating writer Stevie
Cameron, whose journalistic ethics take a roasting; and most of the
Liberal government for its cupidity and avid zeal in smearing an old
enemy. The evidence is all there, and although the book has few
references, most informed readers will be able to pick out the sources
from the context. Presumed Guilty is a tour de force by an author at the
top of his form.