Reality Check: Senate expenses and a 90k payout: a failure of leadership PART III

“There's going to be a new code on Parliament Hill: bend the rules, you will be punished; break the law, you will be charged; abuse the public trust, you will go to prison.”

– Stephen Harper, November 30, 2005

Promise made – promise broken.

In fact, it now looks like at least one rule-breaker was allegedly being bank-rolled by the top PMO staffer.

CTV News has been reporting new revelations about a secret backroom scheme hatched between Senator Mike Duffy and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Chief of Staff Nigel Wright. In this ‘cash for repayment’ scheme, Mr. Wright allegedly gave assurances to Senator Duffy that the money he was being forced to repay, (expenses he claimed but was not entitled to,) would be covered.

According to these allegations, PMO officials agreed to “go easy” on Senator Duffy in exchange for his silence.

When pressed to co-operate with the auditors, Senator Duffy stated in an email:

“I stayed silent on the orders of the PMO.”
– Mike Duffy, CTV News, May 15, 2013

And to make a sordid tale even worse, it is now being reported that the $90,000 used by Duffy to repay his expense abuses was covered by a personal cheque written by Nigel Wright to Mike Duffy – and they’re declaring this a “gift”!

As of this morning, we checked the website of the Senate Ethics Officer, and there is no listing of this or any gifts to Senator Duffy.

Secret deals between the prime minister’s top staffer and an unelected, unaccountable and under investigation senator. Canadians deserve better.