Reality Check: When did Mr. Mulroney first tell the Prime Minister about detainee abuse?

When David Mulroney appears at the Special Committee on Afghanistan later today, New Democrat MPs will want to know “when did he first raise the issues of possible torture of Afghan detainees with Prime Minister Harper?”

As the former head of the Afghanistan Taskforce, Mr. Mulroney was in a position to receive field reports from Afghanistan - including those of diplomat Richard Colvin. He was also, documents show, a contributor to briefings the Privy Council Office provided to the Prime Minister on the sensitive subject of the treatment of detainees.

According to email traffic obtained through Access to Information, on March 8, 2007, top PCO official Jill Sinclair asked David Mulroney to “get all the issues on the table” about detainees for a planned briefing for Prime Minister Harper:

“We are putting together a list of questions and issues that we will want to address in our note to the PM today.” (See attached).

The email also shows that Mr. Mulroney called for a meeting with other senior officials “in light of the evolving story” concerning detainees — two months before Canada signed a new detainee transfer treaty with Afghanistan.

New Democrats will be releasing the Mulroney e-mail at committee.