Is Duffy from P.E.I. or PMO?

Since being appointed a senator for Prince Edward Island by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mike Duffy has gained a reputation for rousing and sometimes ribald public speaking, often at Conservative party fundraising events.

It’s time he spoke to the Canadian public about something serious — the mess of his Senate expense claims and the even bigger mess created by the way he paid back $90,000 he received for claiming his P.E.I. cottage as his primary residence.

The Prime Minister’s Office has confirmed reports that Mr. Harper’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright, covered the $90,000 repayment with a personal cheque, described as a gift to help a friend. The PMO says this was done without the knowledge of the prime minister.

Neither the PMO nor Mr. Wright nor Sen. Duffy disclosed this gift at the time. That suggests they had a good idea the public would not agree that repayment of the improper expenses by Mr. Wright, instead of by Sen. Duffy, was “the right thing to do.”

It was hypocritical for Sen. Duffy to let the public believe he had repaid the money in substance and not just in form. It was beyond hypocrisy for the government to then praise the senator for showing “leadership” in making the repayment that actually cost him nothing.

Sen. Duffy has compromised his position as a legislator by accepting a $90,000 gift, since the public cannot know if there were strings attached. He may have breached the Senate’s ban on accepting gifts that “could reasonably be considered to relate to the senator’s position.” He clearly failed to respect the requirement to declare gifts.

To make matters worse, once the repayment was made, Sen. Duffy stopped co-operating with a Deloitte external audit of senators’ expenses. He did not provide financial statements or details of his whereabouts that would enable the auditor to determine if per diem expenses were properly claimed. Deloitte identified one instance of Sen. Duffy claiming a per diem while in Florida. It said his location was not clear on some other days he claimed per diems. But using media reports, the Canadian Press has identified five days in April 2011 when Sen. Duffy was reported to be at Tory election campaign events while claiming to be on Senate business (though it might be possible to do both).

Sen. Duffy owes Canadians a full public explanation of his expense claims and of the repayment (which he says was financed by a bank loan). The prime minister should order his chief of staff to explain his intervention, as well, because there is a strong appearance here of the PMO protecting a star fundraiser.

It is also completely unacceptable for Sen. Duffy to receive expenses while refusing to co-operate with an audit. He should not get a nickel more from taxpayers until he does co-operate and fully disclose. If he can’t see that, it’s time to explain why he should sit in the Senate at all.

Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca
Author: EDITORIAL