Former prime minister Brian Mulroney was reimbursed thousands of dollars in cash for personal expenses while he was at 24 Sussex Drive, his former chief of staff said Tuesday.
Norman Spector brought along three sets of documents for his testimony Tuesday before a parliamentary committee examining the business dealings between Mulroney and German-Canadian lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber.
Spector said the first set of documents revealed Mulroney received $5,000 a month from the PC Party of Canada fund for "expenses incurred as party leader."
He added: "Sometimes we would give this money to Mrs. Mulroney in cash, and sometimes we would send a cheque to [Mulroney's Montreal accountant]."
Spector said Mulroney received "personal expenses" from the fund totalling $100,000, between October 1986 and June 1987.
Spector is testifying before the House of Commons ethics committee probing cash transactions between Mulroney and Schreiber during the early 1990s.
Mulroney has said Schreiber paid him $225,000 in cash for consultancy work he carried out on behalf of Schreiber's client, a German armoured car company that had wanted to build a manufacturing plant in Bear Head, N.S.
Schreiber, who is fighting extradition to Germany to face fraud and other charges, says he paid Mulroney $300,000, but maintains the former prime minister didn't do any work for him.
Spector, who worked for Mulroney from 1990-1992, had publicly promised to produce documents getting at the source of the cash transfers.
Spector promises to shed light on Mulroney's motives
Last month, he told Montreal newspaper Le Devoir he has detailed knowledge of specific projects in which Mulroney was involved, including Bear Head.
"Finally, documents in hand, I believe myself quite capable of helping them identify the source of large quantities of money reported at 24 Sussex while Mr. Mulroney was prime minister of Canada," Spector wrote.
He also said he could help the committee understand the "motivations and the behaviour" of Mulroney.
Spector says he has no connections to Mulroney and that the two are no longer friends.
Mulroney loyalists argue Spector simply has an axe to grind, and lawyers for the former prime minister have already objected to Spector's testimony. In a letter last week, lawyer Guy Pratte said Spector's testimony should be ruled "out of bounds."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said a public inquiry into the matter will start when the committee finishes its hearings. Opposition parties are keen to get an inquiry underway, fearing it could be derailed if a federal election is called before the probe can begin.
An independent government adviser has recommended the public inquiry be limited in scope to the cash payments Schreiber gave to Mulroney.
None of the allegations against Mulroney has been proven in court.
With files from the Canadian Press