Leading forensic audio expert finds gap in Grewal


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OTTAWA (CP) - One of Canada's top forensic-sound analysts says a conversation secretly taped by Tory MP Gurmant Grewal appears to have been altered.

Stevan Pausak told The Canadian Press a 46-second segment of the recording now at the centre of a political storm has an abnormal break that indicates a portion may have been cut out.

The gap occurs in a recorded phone chat between Grewal and Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh about the possibility of Grewal joining the Liberals in exchange for an unspecified reward.

"It appears to be altered," Pausak said.

"This brief segment at the beginning shows that it's not continuous, and it should be."

Pausak, a physicist, MIT-trained forensic scientist and former Ontario government expert, provides analysis for court trials through his Oakville-based company, Forensic Science Services Inc.

He listened to a segment of the tape Thursday at the request of The Canadian Press.

Pausak says there's a discontinuity in the audio file, what he calls a "zero-signal gap" - commonly known as dead air - of about 0.3 seconds. The signal goes abruptly to zero in that interval, and afterward it continues.

"I'm talking about alteration. I am trying to avoid the word tampering," Pausak said.

"When you are using the word tampering, that means intent, right? Most of the time there is no way to show intent through the examination of the recording. You just see that it's altered."

Several tapes surreptitiously recorded by Grewal have been turned over to the RCMP and could potentially be the subject of a criminal investigation.

He denied Thursday that he doctored the recordings, copies of which have been posted on his website.

"No, no, no," the Tory MP said when asked if he had tampered with any of the evidence.

"I can't answer any other questions simply because the RCMP is investigating. Let them do their job."

He added nothing else as he hurried away from a group of journalists following him.

The phone conversations and a meeting with Dosanjh and Tim Murphy, Prime Minister Paul Martin's chief of staff, took place on the eve of a confidence motion that could have spelled defeat for Martin's minority government.

The recordings suggest the Liberals tried to get the support of Grewal and his wife, fellow MP Nina, in exchange for future posts with the federal government.

Grewal has said he recorded two to four hours of audio, but barely 90 minutes were released earlier this week.

The RCMP, which has received the recordings, won't say whether it will launch a full investigation.

The Tories say questions about tampering are a distraction from the real story: that top Liberal officials were trying to bribe Tories on the eve of a crucial vote.

They say the Liberal tactics could violate Criminal Code anti-corruption laws that carry penalties of 14 years maximum in prison.

"(It's) an attempt to discredit what was said on the tapes," said Tory deputy leader Peter MacKay.

"For proof as to whether the prime minister and the government are capable of this he only has to swivel his head in his seat and take a look at his cabinet.

"And take a look at the number who have crossed the floor for either cabinet positions or parliamentary secretary positions."

Two former Tories - Belinda Stronach and Scott Brison - now sit in the Liberal cabinet.

The portion Pausak analysed contains a discussion of Brison's jump to the Liberals in late 2003.

Martin brushed off calls to dismiss Dosanjh and Murphy while the Mounties look into the matter.

"The fact is that it's not their credibility that's at stake," he said. "It's very clearly Mr. Grewal's."

All three opposition parties say Murphy should go.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said the RCMP contacted the party to follow up on the Bloc's original complaint that there may have been criminal activity in the affair.

Martin repeated allegations Thursday that the tapes had been manipulated.

He said that raises questions Grewal and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper must answer.

"The allegations in terms of the tapes - the tapes have been doctored and this kind of thing - I think are actually very, very disturbing," he said.

"And I think the questions really should be put to Mr. Harper and Mr. Grewal."

The prime minister said he authorized talks between the party and Grewal, but stressed that no job offers were made in exchange for votes.

Dosanjh said Wednesday that some portions of the tapes were altered to take out parts of conversations, and to move other parts to suggest wrongdoing.

The tapes and subsequent allegations of tampering have the potential to trigger legal and political nightmares for both the Liberals and the Tories.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050602/ca...HNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

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I'd like to know how/why these 'alterations' occured.

This whole ordeal if very fishy to me. This guy is already under investigation involving another incident with the RCMP unrelated to the the recent drama on the hill.

-ax

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I'll laugh if Grewal ends up being charged by the RCMP instead of anyone in Cabinet or the PMO. The irony being that Grewal made the tapes public in order to discredit the Liberals. That move may come back and bite him.

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I just returned from a three week vacation in Europe to find this brewing. My first question when I heard it was "What's the big deal?" This is politics, isn't it? Few don't change sides without trying to eke out some sort of 'reward' for themselves. It's not too big of a deal to me, especially when the government's aim is to prevent a anti-Canadian seperatist alliance from usurping power in Parliament (although Stephen Harper has enjoyed blocking any passage of bills in Parliament).

This new twist has only increased my opposition to the Tories. It's a very big problem if the holier-than-thou party cannot rid themselves of scandal and defections because of their extremism.

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It keeps getting better...

Jun. 6, 2005. 05:06 PM

Air Canada probes Grewal's actions in airport

FROM CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Air Canada is investigating an incident at Vancouver airport involving a Tory MP embroiled in a taping scandal.

Gurmant Grewal was allegedly spotted in a waiting area Saturday trying to get passengers to transport a package to Ottawa.

Airport sources won't confirm if there was a tape in the envelope the B.C. MP was trying to pass along.

"We can confirm that we are currently investigating an incident involving Mr. Grewal," said Air Canada spokeswoman Laura Cooke.

"I have no additional information to provide on this matter at this point."

Security regulations require any passenger must be on a plane carrying that person's luggage.

A source says Grewal was booked on a flight to Ottawa and passed through security to a waiting area, where he was allegedly overheard asking "a number of" passengers to transport the package.

Grewal turned over tapes last week to the RCMP from secret recordings he made in meetings with two top Liberals.

Several audio experts have agreed the tapes were altered, prompting the Conservatives to issue a statement admitting that small changes had been made to the recordings.

On the tapes, Grewal is overheard negotiating possible job opportunities with the Liberal party in exchange for his vote in a crucial confidence showdown last month.

Conservative spokesman Geoff Norquay said he was aware of Air Canada's allegation against Grewal and planned to make a statement later Monday.

Grewal did not respond to an email request for an interview.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492

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I don't know how this guy can have any credibility. He's under an active investigation by the RCMP.

He's a total joke.

-Ax

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Jun. 8, 2005. 01:07 PM

New poll gives Liberals big boost

NDP now leads Tories among Ontarians, women

ALEXANDER PANETTA

CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - The Liberals had a 14-point lead over the Conservatives in popular support, suggests a new poll taken earlier this month.

The Decima survey showed the Liberals with 37 per cent support and the Tories with 23 per cent, in a virtual dead heat with the NDP at 21 per cent.

The poll of 1,000 respondents was conducted June 2-5. Decima said the results are accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The survey, released to The Canadian Press, indicated the New Democrats held small leads over the Tories in Ontario, among women, among single people and with voters under age 34. The results are less reliable for these smaller samples.

The Ontario results suggested the Liberals held a 26-percentage-point advantage over the Tories in the province. The Grits were at 48 per cent, the NDP was at 24 and the Conservatives held 22 per cent in Canada's largest province.

"The trend lines ? especially in Ontario ? are definitely better for the Liberal party than they were several weeks ago, no question about that," said Bruce Anderson, head of Decima Research Inc.

The Liberals have bounced back in a series of polls after hitting lows amid a daily stream of revelations at the sponsorship inquiry.

The Conservatives, however, had even less support than they did before Jean Brault's shocking testimony about corruption in Liberal ranks, the poll suggests.

But Liberals shouldn't feel too triumphant, Anderson warned.

The swings suggest a temperamental electorate, and these latest Decima numbers would still likely give the Liberals only a minority government.

"(These are) not unprecedented levels of support for the Liberal party," Anderson said.

"I would say it's more reasonable to assume that they're fragile rather than sturdy levels of support because of the volatility we've seen."

Anderson blamed the Tories' poor showing on a strategy that has been "out of sync" with the desires of the electorate.

In their efforts to take down the government, the Tories found themselves running against voters who didn't want an election and liked the NDP-inspired changes to the federal budget.

Parliament was paralysed for a few days as the Tories and Bloc Quebecois boycotted to protest the Liberals' clinging to power.

"During the same period, the NDP has been urging that the House (of Commons) keep working, that it expand its agenda beyond ... corruption, and has been promoting social spending over corporate tax cuts," Anderson said.

The Tories appear unlikely to try forcing an election again this spring, as MPs suggest the party will spend the summer shaping policy and building popular support.

That would be in keeping with what voters want, the Decima poll suggests.

Only 12 per cent of respondents said the Tories should renew their takedown effort, compared with 76 per cent who said they should wait.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492

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Oh my, when it rains it pours....

Jun. 9, 2005. 06:34 AM

Officials to probe Grewal's status

Were immigration rules followed?

MP says allegation is groundless

LES WHITTINGTON, ANDREW MILLS AND SUSAN DELACOURT

OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA - Tory MP Gurmant Grewal might face deportation if it is proven he obtained immigrant status in Canada improperly, Immigration Minister Joe Volpe suggests.

He was commenting on an allegation by a former business partner of Grewal's that the British Columbia MP invested $50,000 in a Vancouver-area business in 1993 as part of the arrangements that allowed him to immigrate to Canada ? and then got the money back the next day.b>

Yesterday was not any easy day for the Conservatives with a new poll showing them trailing the Liberals and leader Stephen Harper admitting they can't defeat the government.

Volpe wouldn't comment specifically on Grewal's situation. But, asked what happens to someone who comes into Canada on a promise to provide an investment and doesn't do so, Volpe said the government checks to ensure such immigrants meet "a series of performance markers."

If not, "they don't usually get to stay," Volpe told reporters, adding his department will be looking into the allegations.

But the B.C. MP told the Toronto Star that the story told by his former partner is groundless. "I deny those charges, and they have raised this issue before," he said in a telephone interview.

"I have three elections. Therefore, this is an issue they have been raising again and again.

"But every time, they are proven to be wrong. This time I will be taking legal action," said Grewal, who is on stress leave from his Conservative caucus duties.

The Conservatives continue to accuse Prime Minister Paul Martin's government of trying to lure Grewal and his wife, Nina, (also a Tory MP) to the Liberals with unethical promises of "rewards."

But the Tory outcry of indignation has become muted in recent days. With a new poll showing Conservatives third in Ontario and the Grewal saga sapping morale from the caucus, it was a glum-looking leader Stephen Harper who acknowledged yesterday he didn't have the strength in the Commons to bring down the Liberals.

"The numbers are clear," Harper said. "This government can't be defeated unless people who are elected as Liberals decide to defeat it" in an upcoming vote over same-sex legislation.

A Decima survey released to The Canadian Press yesterday showed the Conservatives trailing far behind the Liberals. Only six weeks ago, during the height of the sponsorship inquiry, the Tories led the Liberals.

The survey, taken last week, showed the Liberals vaulted to a 14-point lead over the Conservatives. Last month, the RCMP and the federal ethics commissioner were asked to examine accusations Grewal improperly sought money from people seeking admission to Canada.

Yesterday, questions about Grewal's immigration arrangements were being raised by Gurwinder Dhillon, a B.C. business person. Grewal and his family arrived in Canada in 1991 from war-torn Liberia via the United States and Britain.

Dhillon said that in 1992, Grewal was casting around for a way to fulfill the requirements of his being granted residency in Canada as an entrepreneur.

One of the requirements of that status is that within three years of arriving in Canada, an immigrant must invest at least $50,000 in a business that will create at least one new job.

So Grewal honed in on the Surrey Carpet Centre, a floor-covering store Dhillon partially owned.

Grewal landed a job as a carpet salesman, Dhillon said in an interview. But things began to go sour between Dhillon and his then-partner.

"I just wanted out," Dhillon said, adding Grewal "knew that I was going to get out and not get anything for it."So Grewal proposed that he pay Dhillon $50,000 for his shares as long as Dhillon returned the money the next day, Dhillon said. On paper, it would show that Grewal had invested in a business and satisfy his immigration requirements, Dhillon said, but Grewal wouldn't actually have invested anything.b>

Dhillon agreed and the transaction was done. "I thought I was giving him a break by letting him become a Canadian," he said. "I kicked myself."Under federal law, anyone who becomes a permanent resident or a citizen fraudulently can lose their status in Canada. In some circumstances, that could open up the possibility of being deported, according to officials.b>

But Peter Carver, an immigration law specialist at the University of Alberta, said any proceedings involving Grewal would likely be complex and lengthy because he is a Canadian citizen.

"If there was any issue of someone's obtaining permanent residence on conditions and then they failed to meet the conditions, then their permanent residence could have been revoked at the time," Carver said. But once a person becomes a citizen, it becomes more difficult, he added.

Grewal, who left Ottawa with Nina on a flight to Vancouver last night, has attracted national attention since he revealed in mid-May that he had secretly tape recorded discussions with senior Liberals.

The talks concerned the possibility that he and Nina might desert the Tories and provide badly needed support for the Liberals in the House of Commons. Grewal had offered to do so in exchange for promises of plum government jobs for himself and his wife.

The Conservatives said the tapes proved the government was acting unethically. But the Liberals said it was Grewal who approached them and that no promises of government jobs were ever made to the B.C. MP.The Tories have been rocked by evidence that the tapes made public by Grewal were incomplete and edited. And, in a rush to ship some of the tapes to Harper's office, Grewal may have run afoul of Air Canada security policies at the Vancouver airport on June 4.b> Volpe said yesterday he couldn't talk about anything to do with Grewal's personal dealings because he is already caught up in another dispute with the B.C. MP.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492

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Why was this guy given any trust at all. He's unraveling to show that, not only is he full of holes and clearly has a history of lies but that his own party is saying maybe he shouldn't be trusted!

-Ax

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