Senator Mike Duffy cleared of all criminal charges

Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt cleared Senator Mike Duffy of all 31 criminal charges against him and criticized both the Prime Minister's Office under former PM Stephen Harper and also the RCMP.

	1 of 2
An article in the CBC by Neil MacDonald praises the judge's decision:

 Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt proved that in Canada, the courts are there to protect citizens against the venal machinations of those in high office, and the terrifying power of the police and prosecutors who answer to them.Not only did the judge drop all 31 charges, he described those charges as an abuse of power.

MacDonald is scathing in his remarks on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police(RCMP) who prosecuted Duffy. Instead of defending the law as their motto claims, saying they "genuflected to authority, using police discretion to toss a single newsworthy individual into the nightmare of the criminal system, essentially stealing two years of his life, while ignoring other senators who were doing just about exactly the same thing as Duffy." MacDonald notes that while Duffy was charged with taking a bribe there was no charge against the aide in the PMO who offered it in the first place. He claims the RCMP have been found wanting, if not negligent.

David Scott an Ottawa lawyer who years ago defended another individual from what was also a type of RCMP persecution, said: "I'm frankly proud of the way this turned out. It is completely unprofessional to have such an active animus at work in an investigation. The RCMP was lusting to do this [charge Duffy] because of the high-profile nature of the case. There was a hue and cry to 'get this creep. It's the power of authority. I have no doubt that this was a case of pleasing the masters."Harper had obviously decided that Duffy should be punished.

Nearly two years ago Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP Giles Michaud issued a long news release detailing the charges against Duffy and revealing the complex investigation officers made to expose the wrongdoing. When asked this Friday what Michaud had to say now, a junior officer said: "The RCMP respects the decision of the court. It would be inappropriate to comment further." When asked why it was inappropriate to comment now when the charges were made it was thought appropriate to advertise them the officer said that it would be inappropriate to comment.

Mike Duffy was a well-known TV personality before he was appointed by the Harper government to represent Prince Edward Island(PEI). Among the charges against him were that he said that his principal residence was in PEI so that he could claim expenses for his Ottawa residence: In 2012, Duffy has a vacation home on the island. Duffy was one of four senators accused of saying that their primary residency outside of Ottawa in order to claim living expenses for work in Ottawa.[22][23] Duffy, who has lived and worked in Ottawa for decades, has claimed his primary residence is in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island and claimed $42,802 in living expenses for the national capital region from November 30, 2010, to November 30, 2012.[24] Duffy may have also claimed $40,333 in the two years after his Senate appointment in December 2008.While a senator, Duffy was a popular speaker for the Conservatives. In March of 2010 he criticized University of King's College and other Canadian journalism schools for teaching Noam Chomsky and critical thinking. He claimed that Canadian journalism schools were producing leftists who thought free enterprise was bad.

Harper decided that Senators should repay these claimed expanses. Duffy was unwilling since he thought it would be an admission that he had done something wrong. Duffy claimed that he had claimed the expenses after seeking advice on the matter. However, he gave in to the demands of the Harper administration providing he did not have to pay:In late February 2013, it was alleged that special counsel and legal adviser Benjamin Perrin drafted a letter of understanding between Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, Nigel Wright and Duffy.[33] Perrin denied involvement in a May 2013 statement.[34][35] Wright then wrote a personal cheque to Duffy for $90,172 to cover past residency expenses claimed as part of the agreement with the PMO. A Conservative Party spokesman confirmed the money was a gift with no expectation of repayment.[36] Duffy then repaid the Government of Canada $90,172 in March 2013 for expenses previously claimed.

Duffy faced up to 14 years in prison if convicted of the most serious offences charges The defense and cross-examination of Duffy finished back on December 17th, after sixty days. The oral closing arguments were heard between Feb. 22 and March 4. The acquittal was on April 21.

Duffy has serious health problems suffering a heart attack in 1992. He needs drugs for heart disease, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis.

NDP leads in polls with Conservatives trailing and Liberals third

The recent CBC poll tracker results show that the NDP continues to lead both in popular vote and in seats it is projected to win.

+ Add Image	1 of 2

The results from August 19 are from an average of a number of polls. The Conservatives have 29.2 per cent of the vote. This is down slightly from the last polls. The NDP were at 33.8, up 0.3 percent from last time. The Liberals were up 0.8 percent to 27.5 putting them close to the Conservatives. The separatist Bloc Quebecois was at 3.9 per cent a slight gain from earlier. The Green Party was at 4.7 percent down 1.1 percent.

The NDP would win the most seats, 132, but far from the 170 needed to form a majority government. The Conservatives would win 116 with the Liberals still quite a ways behind at 89. The Bloc Quebecois would win no seats and the Green Party just one. A regional breakdown is available at the poll tracker website.

We now have polls from Abacus Data and Angust Reid on Canadians' reaction to the Mike Duffy trial. Duffy a former Conservative Senator is facing numerous charges having to do with Senate expenses and other issues.

The polls show that almost one in four Canadians are following the trial closely. Only fifteen percent of those polled think that Harper acted properly in the Abacus poll, with a few more 20 percent in the Angus Reid poll. In the Reid poll over half, 56 percent, said the trial had made their opinion of Harper worse. While many of these voters had already decided they were going to vote Liberal or NDP, a significant number of soft Conservative supporters were negatively influenced by the trial. Soft Conservative voters are those considering voting for the party but not yet committed.

The Abacus Data poll found that a quarter of soft Conservative supporters now believe that Harper acted improperly and 20 percent said that the trial made them less likely to vote Conservative. One quarter of the group said they did not believer Harper's version of events in the Angus Reid poll, and another 42 per cent did not know whether they should believe him or not. Slightly less than a third said that the trial had caused them to have a worse opinion of Harper. The Harper view that the scandal is limited to the former PM's chief of staff Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy is rejected by 62 percent of those polled by Angus Reid. They thought more in the PMO were involved, that there was a deeper scandal. 23 percent of soft Conservatives also took this view. Further doubt was cast on Harper's version of events by Benjamin Perrin a former legal adviser to the PMO. Perrin said that he believed that Harper knew the full details of a plan to reimburse Duffy for his expenses and mislead the public about what was happening. It remains to be seen if the trial has any lasting effect over a long campaign with the election taking place on October 19.

If you are tired of all the mainstream parties in some constituencies you can vote for minor parties. As of August 18th there were 85 Libertarians running. The Christian Heritage Party is fielding 22 candidates. There are also 5 from the Pirate Party, 3 from the Rhinoceros, and one lonely Communist.

Stephen Harper just not ready to be trustworthy

Ottawa - Harper has claimed that Canadian voters have a clear choice between a proven leader that they can trust, namely him, or two risky and unproven leaders, Justin Trudeau of the Liberals, or Thomas Mulcair of the New Democratic Party.

+ Add Image	1 of 2

The trouble is that Harper's past actions and present situation make the "trust" theme quite risky. The Mike Duffy trial brings into question whether Harper is trustworthy himself. Originally, Harper said that he would never appoint an unelected senator but he ended up appointing many Conservative hacks, bag men, failed candidates, and Duffy, a journalist who pushed a conservative agenda as a popular talk show host. As Liberal Dr. Carolyn Bennett said way back in December of 2010:“For someone who vowed never to appoint an unelected Senator, Mr. Harper is now the all-time patronage king, having appointed 38 Conservative activists to the upper chamber."

This in itself would make it seem that Harper might just not be ready to be trustworthy. Duffy ended up in hot water over several issues including $90,000 in expense claims. On July 17, 2014 Duffy was charged with 31 criminal offences that included fraud, breach of trust, and bribery. The trial is ongoing with Nigel Wright, Harper's former chief of staff finishing his testimony this Wednesday. Duffy has pleaded not guilty to all 31 charges. Duffy repaid the $90,000 in expenses admitting that he had made a mistake in claiming them. However, the money was given to Duffy by Nigel Wright via a personal check. There was an agreement between Duffy and the Prime Minister's Office(PMO) that Duffy would admit he was in error and repay the expenses. Originally the plan was to secretly reimburse Duffy through a Conservative party fund but when it turned out the expenses were $90,000 rather than $32,000 as was at first thought, this plan was rejected by the head of the fund. Instead Duffy was reimbursed by Wright through his personal check for $90,000.

Prime Minister Harper has denied that he had any knowledge of the plan to have Wright issue a personal check to Duffy. Yet, some of the e-mails presented at the trial suggest he did know. One e-mail said that "we are good to go from the PM". Wright explains that the phrase meant only that Harper approved a plan that would see Duffy admit he made an error and would repay the expenses. Supposedly he knew nothing of the plan to secretly use Conservative party funds for the payment nor of the later plan for Wright to issue a personal check to cover the expenses. This is possibly true since part of the role of Wright would be to ensure there would be no evidence of Harper's involvement in such a devious plan. When the dirty tricks are discovered then Harper can claim that he held Wright accountable by firing him. Wright loyally kept to this narrative in his testimony swearing that Harper knew nothing either about the plan to use the Conservative party fund to reimburse Duffy or about Wright's issuance of a personal check for that purpose. Just how did Harper think that Duffy could be induced to pay these expenses when he thought he had done nothing wrong unless he were somehow reimbursed? He doesn't care to know. This dirty work is what Wright was hired to do.

Wright has an interpretation of not lying that only a lawyer could love. Wright claims to have told Harper that Duffy was going to repay the expenses when he knew that the plan was to have the Conservative fund pay the expenses. Wright said:"I don't think I lied to the prime minister. I don't feel it was a lie. I just felt it wasn't on my list of things I needed to check with him."Wright also claimed that the important issue was that the funds be paid back not who paid them. You would think that since Duffy incurred the expenses it was important that he paid them back not someone such as Wright who was paying Duffy to do what Harper wanted. Conveniently, Harper was blissfully unaware according to Wright's narrative as to what was going on. Apparently, the PM has no obligation to keep tabs on what his chief of staff is up to, particularly when it might be illegal or immoral.

Harper has insisted that his present chief of staff Ray Novak did not know about the check written by Wright. Yet Novak was slated to be part of a conference call in which the check was discussed. In an e-mail sent to Novak Wright wrote: "I will send my cheque on Monday". Benjamin Perrin a former legal advisor to the PMO, told the RCMP that Novak was part of the conference call that discussed Wright's check. Wright claims that he was not part of the call but just "popped in and out". Wright claims he did not hear the discussion of his check to Duffy. How convenient. Wright also testified that Novak did not read the email sent to him about the check. Obviously, Harper should fire Novak since he does not bother to read important emails sent to him. How can we trust a PM who hires a chief of staff who does not even read quite important emails and just pops in and out during crucial conference calls? A leader like that is just not ready to earn our trust.

Ex-coach, Tory insiders among new senators..

Huh! Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin are non-partisan! What planet do the CTV news staff inhabit? Duffy was noted for his bias in favor of Conservatives and picked on poor Dion mercilessly. Wallin was appointed by Harper to complement the other co-operative folk on his ïndependent"Afghan committee.
We have another bunch of political hacks appointed to Senate along with others. I guess this shows the senate is an equal opportunity employer with Harper now appointing Conservative hacks to match Liberal hacks---along with some notably able exceptions on both sides.
Personally I agree with the NDP that the best solution would be to abolish the Senate but failing that an elected Senate is surely preferable to an unelected one.


Ex-coach, Tory insiders among new senators
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has railed against the Senate and championed a plan to make it an elected body, has appointed some of his closest Conservative insiders to the Red Chamber - as well as a Stanley Cup-winning coach who has fought a lifelong struggle with illiteracy.
Jacques Demers, who coached the Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens, among other NHL teams, is now a Conservative senator representing Quebec. His appointment was announced earlier on Thursday, on the website of television network RDS. Demers has been working for that company as a hockey analyst.
Demers made news several years ago by speaking publicly about his difficulties in overcoming illiteracy.
Also filling out the nine vacancies in the Upper House:
Doug Finley, Harper's election campaign chair, appointed as an Ontario senator.
Don Plett, president of the Conservative Party of Canada and National Councillor, representing Manitoba
Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, who recently stepped down from her post as Harper's director of strategic communications, has been rewarded for her more than seven years of service. (New Brunswick).
Dennis Patterson, former Northwest Territories premier (Nunavut).
Claude Carignan, a lawyer and mayor of Saint-Eustache (Quebec).
Linda Frum Sokolowski, a Canadian journalist and bestselling author (Ontario).
Kelvin Ogilvie, scientist and past president of Acadia University (Nova Scotia).
Judith Seidman, health expert and long-time community service worker (Quebec).
During his time as opposition leader, Harper said he would never make patronage appointments to the Senate.
When asked about how he could reconcile the appointments with his earlier statements, Harper replied: "At the time when there will be elected senators, I intend to elect senators."
"But at the moment, it's only Alberta that organizes such elections," he told reporters in French at a Thursday afternoon news conference in Quebec City. "Now we have nine vacant seats in the Senate, and I intend to have senators that will support the elected government."
Harper has tried to reform the Senate by making it an elected body. After the opposition Liberals blocked the move, the prime minister appointed 18 senators over the Christmas break last year.
Many of those appointees were considered nonpartisan, helping to avoid tough opposition criticism. Journalists Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, and Olympic skier Nancy Greene Raine were among those awarded seats.
Now it seems Harper is moving towards balancing out the Liberal-dominated Senate by appointing a number of Conservative-minded Canadians to the role.
"He called the Senate 'a dumping ground' for the favoured cronies of the prime minister," said Roger Smith, a parliamentary correspondent with CTV in Ottawa. "Well, he's appointing some of his favoured cronies apparently."
The Tories are expected to control 45 out of the 105 seats in the Senate with the new round of appointments, Smith said.
On Thursday morning, the federal Liberals reacted to the anticipated announcement by issuing a statement about "Senate Harpocrisy." It lists quotes by the prime minister in which he refused to make Senate appointments.
"There will obviously be outrage from the opposition today, but you're going to have to take that with a grain of salt," Smith said. "The Liberals did this for years."
In a statement, the NDP said the new senators will cost Canadian tax payers $3 million per year.
"I think it just shows really that Mr. Harper's not behaving any differently than we used to see with the Liberals," NDP Leader Jack Layton told CTV News Channel.
"That means when we do finally retire the Harper government, (the Senate) will be packed with Conservatives to block the legislation of any future government coming in. It just shows how crazy this system really is," Layton said.
"Having an unelected body that's able to block or pass laws is something that modern democracies got rid of years ago."
Senators receive about $134,000 per year for their work, plus expenses. They're eligible to hold the position until age 75, at which time they must retire.