Back in touch

Many people have sent notes for this blog over the last few months; I have not published most of them because they contained information that could reveal the sender's identity.
Several of these people told me they were concerned about this issue.

Some of you had information for me and asked for a response, but because you all are only identified as "Anonymous" I have no way to contact you privately. You can email me at stevie@steviecameron.com with your contact information if you want privacy.

I have published a few comments today, comments that do not request anonymity.

One is from Robby McRobb who complains he has sent me three notes that have not yet been published. (I have published one or two but they are all more or less in the same vein.)

McRobb worked for Mila and Brian Mulroney during their time living at Sussex Drive; he was an extra pair of hands around the house, a driver, a valued helper. He does not like my stories about him in On the Take and he does not like my work on Schreiber/Airbus or any other subject that might concern the Mulroneys. They are fortunate to enjoy such loyalty and support.

Among the unpublished notes that have come in, these are the most frequently asked questions:

1) Why haven't I been blogging or present in the media during the Oliphant Inquiry?
2) Did I watch the coverage of the Oliphant Inquiry?
3) Will I be updating The Last Amigo: Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal?
4) Why is The Last Amigo not available in bookstores? Has anyone else done a book on this subject?
5) Was I ever sued by the Mulroneys or anyone else mentioned in my political books?

And here are the answers:
1) I wasn't blogging during the Oliphant Inquiry because I had been subpoenaed by the Commissioner.
2) I did watch a fair bit of the Inquiry, especially when Richard Wolson was questioning Mulroney.
3) Updating The Last Amigo is under consideration. But I wouldn't update; I would do a new book.
4) Why isn't The Last Amigo in bookstores? Quite simply, because it is out of print.

When Amigo was published in the late spring of 2001 it was not a success, despite containing the history of Schreiber's long relationship with Mulroney and other facts that have since become public (and are now very much at the forefront of events in Germany). The book was considered extremely dangerous; Maclean's magazine had agreed to publish an excerpt that had the details of the cash withdrawn for Mulroney but when the editor was abruptly fired and replaced by a new editor, Tony Wilson-Smith, the excerpt was cancelled. As well, concerns about possible lawsuits and other issues beyond my control resulted in the book being released late in the season, at a time when people were no longer interested in Schreiber or Mulroney.

The book was never published in paperback and even after the issue heated up again, the publishers, McClelland & Stewart, declined to re-issue it or to let me update it. (They also returned the ownership of the book and its contract to me.) That wasn't surprising -- at considerable expense M&S had commissioned two volumes of Mulroney's memoirs. Only one has been published so far.

Today, The Last Amigo is only available secondhand; I order my own copies from AbeBooks.com.

And finally, was I ever sued by anyone for anything in these books? No.