Donald Smith, of the correspondence unit, said the reference to Mulroney prompted him to send Schreiber's first letter dated June 16, 2006, to the prime minister's office.
"I thought it was borderline but to be safe I sent it to the PM's correspondence unit."
Smith said he wasn't consulted about Schreiber's March 29, 2007, letter revealing his meeting with Mulroney at Harrington Lake before he left office, their agreement to work together, and the fact he paid Mulroney.
"This one was missed," said Smith, adding the letter was filed away by an analyst. "It should have been caught and it should have been brought to the attention of (a superior), but it was not."
If this sounds familiar to you, it should:
Sir Humphrey: You look worried Bernard.
Bernard: Ah yes, I just found this letter in one of the Ministers' boxes.
Sir Humphrey: What about it?
Bernard: I don't know whether I should open it or not.
Sir Humphrey: Well you know the rules, private secretaries shall open all classifications up to and including Top Secret, only letters marked Personal shall remained unopened unless the Minister orders otherwise.
Bernard: What about Daddy?
Sir Humphrey: I don't immediately see why your father comes into this.
Bernard: No, no, no it's addressed to Daddy, urgent.
Sir Humphrey: Well, does it say Personal?
Bernard: No.
Sir Humphrey: Well then you know the rules, it must be opened.
Bernard: (opens letter) Oh, it's from the Ministers daughter.
Sir Humphrey: You astound me Bernard.
Reading the full article, Donald Smith seems like the sort of civil servant Sir Humphrey would be very keen on, making sure the PM did and didn't receive the right letters. The above quotes are from "The Right to Know". "The Whiskey Priest" is another
Yes, Minister episode that may be of note:
"The Rhodesia Solution":
This involves informing the PM, but not explicitly. Sir Humphrey expounds on this by dictating a sample letter to Bernard that is couched in vague, impenetrable civil service jargon. This should then be smudged all over and delivered to the PM on the day he leaves for an overseas conference. Then the whole thing can be written off as a breakdown in communication.
