Auditors from Deloitte appeared before the Senate’s internal economy committee yesterday morning, and revealed a couple of things – that yes, senior Partner Michael Runia did try calling them, but they didn’t tell him anything, thus preserving their “ethical wall.” Also, their audit operated in a closed system and that there wasn’t any way for there to be any leaks of draft copies. But when the Liberals on the committee tried to move a motion for Runia to appear to explain himself, Conservatives on the committee blocked it, saying that they didn’t have the expertise to conduct an investigation parallel to the RCMP’s. Nor has there been any call for Senator Gerstein to appear to explain himself either. The Liberals will be moving a motion in the full Senate next week to give the committee the mandate to pursue these questions, but we’ll see if there is enough support. Kady O’Malley finds three key points from that testimony, and makes the relevant connections to the Wright testimony in the RCMP ITO. Incidentally, PMO has hired three different law firms to deal with the ClusterDuff file.
Tag Archives: MIke Duffy
QP: Backhanded allegations about Mulcair
With Harper off at Newmarket doing pre-budget consultations, but with the news cycle being consumed by the Conservatives on the Senate Internal Economy committee’s reluctance to call that senior partner from Deloitte before them to testify, it was likely to be a day full of non sequiturs delivered by Paul Calandra. Thomas Mulcair started off by asking why the government asked their senators to block the appearance of Michael Runia before them. Paul Calandra responded that they learned that the audit was done without interference. When Mulcair pressed, Calandra immediately turned to the “You sat on a bribe allegation for 17 years!” talking point. Mulcair changed topics, and asked about the report that CSE was conducting intelligence during the G20 in Toronto. Rob Nicholson reminded him that CSE doesn’t have the authorisation to spy on Canadians. When Mulcair asked if they did it anyway, Nicholson reminded him that they couldn’t even ask allies to spy on Canadians. Mulcair tried to tie this in with the ClusterDuff allegations, but Nicholson reminded him that CSE has judicial oversight. Joyce Murray led off for the Liberals, and asked about the suicide of two soldiers connected CFB Shilo and asked what action the minister was taking to address the issue. Nicholson offered the families his condolences and assured her that the Canadian Forces were investigating. Ralph Goodale was up next, and returned to the issue of Runia and Gerstein being blocked from testifying at committee, but Calandra tried to insist that the Liberals defended those three suspended senators. Goodale demanded to know why Gerstein remained chair of the Senate a banking committee, but Calandra continued to insist that the Liberals fought against holding those senators to account.
QP: Gerstein down the memory hole
It was caucus day, and the Liberals and Conservatives met their new MPs elected in Monday’s by-elections, not that any of them will be sworn in for a couple more weeks. Outside the Chamber, the NDP continued to froth about comments that Justin Trudeau made around hope and fear. When QP got started, Thomas Mulcair asked about the written agreement in the Duffy documents about the Prime Minister publicly declaring his fitness to be a PEI senator. Harper assured him that while some MPs and senators have a secondary residence, it was inappropriate to make some expense claims on some of them. Mulcair wondered if that inclusion in the deal was a coincidence, but Harper said that those who are appointed to the Senate are expected to live up to their expectations and Duffy did not. Mulcair wondered if this declaration was part of the “good to go,” and Harper said that residency was not the issue. Mulcair pressed about what the approval was supposed to be about, but Harper insisted that the documents are clear that it was understood that Duffy would pay his own expenses. Justin Trudeau was up next for the Liberals, and asked about Senator Gerstein’s interference in the Deloitte audit, and once again asked why Gerstein enjoyed Harper’s confidence. Harper avoided the question, and insisted that this was only about Wright and Duffy. Trudeau pressed on the issue, but Harper just repeated his non-answer.
Roundup: The AG has concerns
The Auditor General tabled his fall report yesterday morning, but unlike many a report in the past, it was pretty tame. He did kick the crap out of the audit process for the Safety Management System of our railways, and cast a withering eye on food recall systems, and emergency preparedness on First Nations reserves. He wasn’t particularly kind to the CBSA’s lapses in border security, he noted that farmers face a long wait for emergency assistance, and he was really, really unimpressed with the constant delays in implementing financial controls, but he wasn’t too tough on the shipbuilding contracts, and he generally praised CRA in dealing with tax evasion in Lichtenstein – but they need to be better prepared to deal with an increase in tax-haven cases. (Highlights here).
QP: Detouring to mention the Auditor General
Despite the fact that the Auditor General delivered his fall report earlier this morning, as did the Correctional Investigator, it was unlikely either of those would be mentioned anytime before round three. All three leaders were in the Chamber, and there were ClusterDuff questions to be asked. Thomas Mulcair surprised me by bringing up the report chapter on rail safety first thing, to which Harper insisted that the report showed that the system was working overall. Mulcair brought up the chapter on food safety, but Harper again insisted that it wasn’t an accurate reflection, and then read an outside quote about how great things were. Mulcair demanded that the government listen and act on the AG’s recommendations rather than just saying that they agreed. Harper insisted that they always act on the AG’s recommendations. And then it was back to the ClusterDuff — was anyone else being sanctioned for their activities? Harper said he wasn’t going to interfere with the RCMP investigation, and when Mulcair insisted that others be fired, Harper returned to his line about throwing mud and losing ground. Justin Trudeau asked why Senator Gerstein was in caucus and chief fundraiser if was involved in the Wright affairs. Harper insisted that only two people were under investigation. Trudeau brought up Gerstein’s attempt to influence the Deloitte audit, but Harper ignored that and spoke about an improperly reported gift between Wright and Duffy. Trudeau retorted with a dig about Harper losing 40 percent of his vote share last night before wondering why Harper still trusted Gerstein — but Harper shrugged it off and said that the public doesn’t agree with the Liberals when they protect senators.
QP: False accusations abound
With the by-elections on, and Harper out of the House, it looked like it was going to be Thomas Mulcair versus Paul Calandra — a particularly debased bit of political theatre that serves nobody’s interests. As well, it was Deputy Speaker Comartin in the chair today and not Scheer, so it would remain to be seen if anything would be different. Mulcair led off by reading a question around the admission by the PM’s communications director that there was a cover-up in the PMO and likely criminality that took place. Paul Calandra rejected the premise of the question, and insisted that the PM had nothing to do with it. Mulcair demanded that everyone who had a hand in the event be fired, but Calandra insisted that they were cooperating with authorities. Mulcair wondered why Gerstein remained in caucus if he was involved in improperly attempting to influence the audit — but Calandra reminded him that the RCMP were only investigating Duffy and Wright. Mulcair closed the round by wondering about the “good to go” order being after he told Duffy to repay, but Clanadra insisted that Duffy was still trying to justify his inappropriate expenses in the interim. David McGuinty led off for the Liberals, wondering how long Harper put up with the cover-up in his office, but Calandra assured him that the Prime Minister immediately ordered cooperation with investigators. McGuinty also tried to ask about the “good to go” discrepancy, not that Calandra’s answer changed. For the final question of the round, McGuinty wondered when the government would share all of the documents in its possession, but Calandra simply repeated that the PM ordered cooperation with investigators.
Roundup: Four by-elections today
At long last, it’s finally by-election day today! Hooray! Toronto Centre has been the centre of a debate on income inequality, while Brandon-Souris, a long-time Conservative stronghold, is being seen as a barometer of the Senate scandals, compounded by alleged shenanigans in the nomination race, which may be driving voters over to the Liberals. Susan Delacourt notices that Bob Rae sent out a letter to Liberal supporters that employed the language of shame-based get-out-the-vote campaigns, talking about names being on voter lists, which NDP MP Craig Scott accused of being coercive, though it has been a proven effective technique where it has been applied. Michael Den Tandt looks at the by-election narratives, and notes the ways in which both the Conservatives and NDP are doing Trudeau’s work, handing him lay-ups, and allowing him to straddle the centre. (He’s wrong that this is Trudeau’s first electoral test – that was in Labrador). Paul Wells is grumpy about the whole thing – and I can’t blame him.
Roundup: Wright’s animosity toward Duffy
As we continue to sort through the entrails of the RCMP affidavit on the ClusterDuff investigation, Kady O’Malley tries to make more sense of just what kind of information that Senator Irving Gerstein was trying to get from Deloitte about the status of the audits. Despite those early assertions that Nigel Wright was a great friend of Mike Duffy, which was why he helped him out, those RCMP documents show that there was no love lost between Wright and Duffy, and that Wright was beyond frustrated with Duffy and had reached the limits of his patience and was ready to simply communicate with Duffy lawyer-to-lawyer. I still remain somewhat suspicious that the Wright’s motivation to repay Duffy’s expenses was simply “noblesse oblige,” and that there may have been some other reason that we remain unaware of. The PMO, meanwhile, continues to sideline Wright and is intimating that he gave misleading information in one of the memos that was turned over to the RCMP. Here are a few more interesting tidbits about Wright that are revealed from the documents. Rosemary Barton talks to former Commons law clerk Rob Walsh about the possible charges, and what is likely to stick and what won’t. Glen McGregor looks at the curious way in which the RCMP investigator took the extraordinary steps of releasing the ITO to the public. Stephen Maher has a look at Senator Gerstein, Canada’s single best political fundraiser. John Ivison looks at the damage to Harper’s brand that the ClusterDuff affair is doing, the effect it’s having in the Brandon-Souris by-election, and the fact that there is talk now in the party of replacing him if things continue. Andrew Coyne tries to ascertain just what it is that Mike Duffy was doing as he continually changed his demands every time they came to some kind of agreement.
Roundup: Fallout from the ITO
In the aftershocks of yesterday’s revelations in the ClusterDuff affair, everyone is still sorting through the pieces, trying to make sense of it all. Kady O’Malley digs into that ITO and finds three particular dangling threads in the documents that are begging for answers (and you really should read this). Aaron Wherry looks into those documents and finds the voice of sanity, Chris Montgomery – one of Marjory LeBreton’s staffers (apparently paid for out of the PCO budget, which seems to be the source of confusion for people who have said that he’s from PCO) who objected to the process and the interference of the PMO in the Senate’s operations. CBC has their own look at Montgomery in this video piece (with text from The Canadian Press). Senators on both sides of the aisle are reeling from the revelations that PMO was trying to pull the strings of the Duffy audit, because they feel strongly about the chamber’s independence – as well they should. That PMO thought that they could get away with it speaks to the level of control that this government is trying to impose on parliament as a whole, and which parliamentarians themselves should be resisting – as clearly a few in the Senate were, much to the PMO’s frustration. The RCMP are questioning the credibility of Senators LeBreton, Tkachuk and Stewart-Olsen based on their interviews with them, and the quality of that testimony. The auditors from Deloitte are going to be hauled before the Internal Economy committee in order to answer pointed questions about the independence of that audit given the revelations that Senator Gerstein was trying to influence it, though Deloitte has come out to say that there was an ethical wall around those auditors to protect their information from any leaks. As part of that revelation, Charlie Angus is casting aspersions that some of Deloitte’s other work may be politically influenced, like the audit of Attawapiskat’s books (though I’ve heard from my own contacts at Aboriginal Affairs that there are definite governance problems in that reserve). The Law Society of BC is also considering an investigation into the conduct of Benjamin Perrin, the former PMO lawyer who is also implicated in this affair.
QP: More ClusterDuff questions, more Paul Calandra obfuscation
With Stephen Harper off making an announcement in Lac Mégantic, we were guaranteed that it was going to be yet another episode of the Paul Calandra Show for QP today. Would he bring up his father’s pizza parlour? Would there be a homily about the lessons he teaches his daughters. Add to that, the only leader in the House was Thomas Mulcair, which promised to make for a rather lopsided day. When QP started, Mulcair returned to his former mode of solilioqusing, and wondered lengthily about why the Prime Minister couldn’t take responsibility. Paul Calandra got up and praised the leadership the Prime Minister showed in his conduct, and that the documents showed that he didn’t know. Mulcair brought up statements regarding the Prime Minister approving actions, thus implicating him in a cover-up. Calandra offered much the same in response. Mulcair then wondered why a senator would require the PM’s approval to repay his own expenses, but Calandra responded with the allegation that Mulcair sat on a bribery allegation for seventeen years. Mulcair wondered why nobody else lost their jobs if they were involved, but Calandra reiterated the alleged bribe story. Mulcair’s final question got cut off for unparliamentary language, and the Speaker moved on. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, and asked about the “good to go” statement. Calandra shrugged it off and carried on battering at Mulcair. Goodale brought up the sentiments of this affair in the riding of Brandon in his follow-up, which gave Calandra an opening to batter the Liberals about a panoply of their ills. For his final question, Goodale brought up the interference in a Senate committee proceeding, but Calandra decided that returning to the days of the Sponsorship scandal was the way to go.