Roundup: Possible charges against Wright

And with the likelihood that charges will be laid against Nigel Wright, the ClusterDuff exploded all over again yesterday, as an 81-page court affidavit from the RCMP investigator was made public. There are some fairly shocking revelations in there – things like how Wright was in communication with Senator Irving Gerstein as Gerstein made back channel contacts with a partner at Deloitte to inquire about the progress of the Duffy audit and how the repayment would affect it – and that such partner is a top Conservative donor, and that the firm also audit’s the party’s finances. Or that the Prime Minister was told “in broad terms” that Wright was helping Duffy out with the repayment – though it also says clearly that Harper was not told the particulars. That Gerstein considered using party funds to repay Duffy when they thought it was a $32,000 price tag. That there are a number of problems with Duffy’s various speeches in the Senate where he painted himself as some kind of unwitting victim. And that there was a heavy PMO hand in the attempt to change the audits, though there was pushback (including from one of LeBreton’s staffers, Chris Montgomery), and frustration on Wright’s part because the Senate was not responding as they would like when it came to the management of the crisis. Why, it’s terrible that Wright and the PMO were confronted by the notion that the Senate is an independent chamber of parliament that is institutionally independent from their control. The horror! There was even apparently an incident where the Senate clerk had to have words with Senator Carolyn Stewart-Olsen about her partisan behaviour on the steering subcommittee of the Internal Economy Committee. (Mark Kennedy has some highlights here.)

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QP: The only two individuals in question

Some two hours before QP got underway, the news hit the wires — that Nigel Wright was being charged by the RCMP for breach of trust, and a raft of documents was released that showed just how much Wright and the PMO were trying to stage-manage things in the Senate. Add to that, all of the major party leaders were in the House, so it was going to be an explosive day. When QP began, Thomas Mulcair started by asking if Harper wanted to change any of the testimony that he had given on the ClusterDuff scandal so far. Harper responded that he had been clear, and the charges showed that it was indeed Duffy and Wright were the individuals involved. Mulcair pointed to the documents that Harper was aware of the payment, but Harper insisted that he only knew that Duffy said that he was going to repay the expenses but didn’t know the details. Mulcair wondered what Harper had approved, but Harper read from the same documents to show that he wasn’t informed. Mulcair wondered what “good to go” referred to in the documents, but Harper reiterated that he thought that Duffy was going to repay his own expenses. Mulcair closed his first round by asking about the statement that he wasn’t aware when the documents showed that Wright went to him for approval. Harper continued to repeat the line that he only knew that Duffy agreed to repay his expenses. Trudeau was up next, and wondered if the Prime Minister still believed that he had no responsibility for the corruption in his own office. Harper insisted that the documents proved it was limited to the two individuals. Trudeau reiterated his call that the Prime Minister testify under oath, but Harper repeated the same line. Trudeau invoked Brent Rathgeber’s statement that the party had become what they once mocked — to which Rathgeber shrugged — and demanded Harper tell the truth. Harper responded that it was Liberal senators who voted not to punish those embattled senators, and threw in a China dig in there as well.

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QP: A few lengthy detours

With the Rob Ford sideshow slowing down enough so as not to consume the news cycle whole, and with the leaders back in the House today, it was setting up to be a much more lively QP than yesterday’s rather sedate hour. Thomas Mulcair started off with giving the Prime Minister a chance to address the relief efforts for the typhoon in the Philippines, which Harper dutifully did to much applause. Mulcair then moved onto asking if Harper had any regrets of his role in the ClusterDuff affair. Harper rejected the premise of the question, and said that he was disappointed with Wright and Duffy when he found out. Mulcair asked which members of Harper’s staff have been questioned by the RCMP, even offering up names that have been mentioned. Harper insisted that this was all Wright’s responsibility, and both he and Duffy have been sanctioned. Justin Trudeau started his round off by congratulating the government for its typhoon response, and asked if they would extend the deadline for matching donations and visas for students and foreign workers in Canada. Harper said that moving forward, they would extend the needed flexibility as need be. Trudeau moved onto the topic of judicial obstruction by the Conservative staffers, some of whom are now in the PMO, and wondered why there were delays in the false robocall investigations. Harper hit back by pointing out that Trudeau’s lack of support for mandatory minimums meant that he didn’t believe in accountability in the justice system.

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Roundup: Unnecessary supplemental estimates?

The Parliamentary Budget Officer wonders why the government is looking for $5.4 billion in the supplementary estimates tabled yesterday, considering that they underspent $10 billion for each of the past three year. It’s another example of the lack of transparency that his government engages in when reporting to the House its fiscal responsibilities. And hey, maybe MPs should be scrutinising these estimates and asking questions, rather than the PBO doing their homework for them – once again. But math is hard, and so on.

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QP: Paul Calandra, once again

With the Rob Ford sideshow still sucking the oxygen out of the news cycle, and none of the leaders in the House, it was either going to be a quiet QP, or an utter gong show — rarely is it anything in between when the leaders are away. Megan Leslie stated off by asking a question about the relief efforts to the Philippines after the typhoon. Chrisitian Paradis stood up to laud the efforts of the DART, and that the government commitments to relief stand at nearly $40 million. Nycole Turmel was up next, and asked about the expedited immigration for those affected. Costas Menegakis reiterated some of the measures that the government was taking. Turmel and Leslie then returned to the issue of ClusterDuff timelines, but Paul Calandra responded with the usual lines about how the Prime Minister was unaware of what happened. For her final question, Leslie asked about the revelations about Michael Sona being in Aruba when he allegedly bragged about the robocall scheme — which isn’t actually government business — and Calandra didn’t really give an answer in any case. For the Liberals, Ralph Goodale returned to the topics of the staffers in the PMO involved in the ClusterDuff affair, but Paul Calandra told him to repeat the allegations outside of the Chamber. For the final question, Marc Garneau asked about a February 20th email that directed some PMO staff to assist Senator Duffy, and why were they still employed? Calandra insisted that the PM was clear that he wouldn’t have stood for these actions.

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QP: Searching for clues in the PMO

As yet another Rob Ford video hit the media and drew out all of the oxygen of the news cycle, Question Period got underway, the benches in the Commons a little emptier than usual for a Thursday. Thomas Mulcair started off back in prosecutorial mode, and asked who in the PMO was interviewed by the RCMP. Harper assured him that the PMO wasn’t under investigation — Mike Duffy was. Mulcair wondered what documents the RCMP were requesting, but Harper would only say that they were cooperating. Mulcair asked if Harper personally knew about requests for the party to pay for Duffy’s expenses. Harper insisted that he’s been clear, and that he told Duffy to repay his expenses. Mulcair brought up the contradictions in the story to date, but Harper insisted that the facts were clear, that Duffy made inappropriate claims and took a cheque he wasn’t supposed to. When Mulcair brought up Harper’s quote from the days of the sponsorship scandal, Harper said that the $40 million in taxpayer dollars from sponsorship was completely different from the Duffy situation. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals, and asked if any documents from Chris Woodcock were turned over to the RCMP. Paul Calandra took the hit for this one, and said that they were cooperating and then accused the Liberals in the Senate of fighting for the status quo. Ralph Goodale picked it up, and asked if Woodcock was ever asked about his participation in events. Calandra simply insisted that the Liberals were awful.

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QP: Alliterative accusations

With the Senate suspension motions now passed, it was a countdown to see how quickly Harper would invoke the talking point that things were now in the hands of the RCMP, and that he couldn’t comment. When QP got started, Thomas Mulcair started by decrying the alliterative “culture of cover-up and corruption” in the PMO. Harper for up to point out that Wright too responsibility, and he then congratulated the Senate for passing the suspensions. Mulcair wanted to ensure that there was no repayment for any “eeeee-legal” expenses, but Harper repeated his answer. Mulcair asked if Jenni Byrne, who was then with the party and now in the PMO, had any part in the repayment scheme. Harper accused Mulcair of flinging mud out of desperation. Mulcair asked the same again with regards to Irving Gerstein, to which the Speaker warned him that this was straying into party business. Harper said that Mulcair was trying to widen the net of blame, and another attempt at the same question yielded no results. Justin Trudeau was up, and wondered if the PM would allow a free vote on their motion to have him go before committee and testify under oath. Harper instead hit back and accused Liberal senators of trying to defend their entitlements. Trudeau pressed again, insinuating that whipping the vote was to participate in a cover-up. Harper continued to insist that the Liberals in the Senate who wanted the embattled three to get off without sanction (which is, of course, not true).

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Due process versus the culture of expediency

Stephen Harper’s culture of expediency has marked every single aspect of the ClusterDuff affair, from its genesis with the appointment of those senators in 2009, to the abrogation of due process that took place in the Senate tonight to their suspension without pay. Those appointments, made in haste and without proper due diligence, created the crisis of the independence of the Senate that we find ourselves in currently – but it was politically expedient for Harper to declare that he wasn’t going to appoint “unelected” senators until it became expedient for him to appoint a glut of them at once and strain the ability of the chamber to absorb them.

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QP: In the shadow of Rob Ford

With Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s admission that he smoked crack cocaine crowding out the news cycle, and the upcoming votes on suspensions in the Senate keeping the anticipation there, it was likely that a bombshell of epic proportions could be dropped in the Commons and it wouldn’t make the news. It didn’t happen, but it quite possibly could have. Thomas Mulcair led off QP with a bit of a soliloquy, and brought up the meme of week about how he “couldn’t care less” instead of showing contrition. Harper got up and waxed as poetically as is possible for him, talking about the honour of public service and that he wanted sanction for those senators who broke the rules. Mulcair brought up that these were Harper’s appointments, but Harper continued to insist that they wanted rule-breaking senators to face the consequences. Mulcair turned to the letter the RCMP wrote to Duffy’s lawyer that was asking for documents, to which Harper asserted that the letter was to Duffy’s lawyer and that they have been cooperating with the RCMP. Mulcair wanted all documents related to the ClusterDuff affair tabled in the House, but Harper assured him that he had no role in the affair. Justin Trudeau was up for the Liberals, and asked if Senator Gerstein mentioned Wright’s scheme to repay Duffy between February and May. Harper asserted that he had no idea, and Trudeau pounced, wondering why Gerstein still had his position if he was involved. Harper asserted that the actions in question were those of Wright and Duffy, and then reached for the cudgel of the Liberal senators supposedly “blocking” the sanctions.

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QP: No post-convention high

None of the major leaders were in the House today, and even the Conservative caucus was somewhat subdued, even after a weekend spent sipping the Kool-Aid among the party faithful on the weekend. Megan Leslie led off for the NDP, and inquired about the latest version of events as proffered by Senator Gerstein on Saturday. Paul Calandra gave the basic version of events in response — that Wright made the repayment and that they wanted to suspend those three senators, but nothing on Gerstein’s comments. Leslie wondered when the PM had first spoken with Gerstein about the repayment, but Calandra didn’t answer the question. Leslie asked which version of events the PM believed, but Calandra reiterated that Wright took responsibility and was no longer working in the PMO as a result. Nycole Turmel took up the same again in French, and when Calandra responded in English, Turmel complained about the fact. Calandra responded that while he is still learning French, he didn’t want to give any wrong answers because of his a own mistranslation. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, and asked if Gerstein was an “integral part” of the deception around Duffy’s repayment, but Calandra responded by hectoring the Liberal senators for not passing the suspensions. When Goodale pushed, Calandra claimed that Liberals in the House were also somehow standing in the way, not that it makes any sense. When Goodale listed the many people implicated in the coverup, Calandra insisted the opposition was making a victim out of Duffy.

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