Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, July 19, 2013

Senior staffer who allegedly knew of Duffy payment leaves PMO

OTTAWA — One of the senior staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office alleged to have knowledge of a $90,000 secret payment to Sen. Mike Duffy has left the PMO.

Government phone listings no longer show Chris Woodcock as director of issues management inside the Prime Minister’s Office. The listings, edited in the last day, don’t show Woodcock anywhere in the federal government.

Woodcock’s name and telephone number were listed in the government directory Wednesday.

Senior government officials told Postmedia News on Thursday that Woodcock is now chief of staff to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

A Harper spokeswoman declined to comment on why Woodcock was no longer with the PMO.

“We do not comment on staffing,” Julie Vaux said in an email.

Woodcock is one of three senior PMO staffers named in court documents released earlier this month filed as part of an RCMP criminal investigation into the $90,000 payment Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright made to Duffy. According to the documents, Wright’s lawyers told investigators in a letter that Woodcock, as well as the executive assistant to the chief of staff David van Hemmen and one-time legal advisor Benjamin Perrin were informed about the payment plan.

Sen. Irving Gerstein, who oversees the Conservative party fund, was also told of the deal, according to the court documents.

Wright’s lawyers also told RCMP investigators that Harper was not aware of the deal.

Perrin left the PMO in April to return to his teaching job at the University of British Columbia. He has denied any involvement in organizing the transaction between Wright and Duffy.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Jordan Press

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