PMO paid for Duffy's fraud

[Boges]

Harper has kept saying he didn't know but the latest e-mail says different and that Wright had kept updates with the PM and therefore Wright's state yesterday means he had permission from the PM to pay Duffy. I think the Tory MP's should throw Harper under the bus because they are the ones that will pay when election time comes not Harper, who will probably retire with his 6 mil life time pension. http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2013/11/20/emails-indicate-wright-kept-pm-harper-in-loop-on-sen-duffys-%2490000-expenses/36706

Yeah because removing a leader 2 years before an election is an excellent re-election strategy.

[Topaz]

Yeah because removing a leader 2 years before an election is an excellent re-election strategy.

How can Harper stand up in Parliament and be called "honourable" I don't know if there a law to kick a PM out of office but either way, the MP's will be the ones to pay. Canadians have never seen this before and I guess it just show how society's moral value have dropped.

[Mighty AC]

I can't stand Harper, but that sounds a little dramatic. Canadians have never seen what before? A PM that lied in order to appear more palatable to his base?

[PIK]

Harper has kept saying he didn't know but the latest e-mail says different and that Wright had kept updates with the PM and therefore Wright's state yesterday means he had permission from the PM to pay Duffy. I think the Tory MP's should throw Harper under the bus because they are the ones that will pay when election time comes not Harper, who will probably retire with his 6 mil life time pension. http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2013/11/20/emails-indicate-wright-kept-pm-harper-in-loop-on-sen-duffys-%2490000-expenses/36706

The RCMP have said there is no evidence of harper knowing anything. It is most likely he was not told the exact details, but things will be cleared up. And throw harper under the bus, are you kiddding me, is that the only way you think the left has a chance to win the next election? This is being tried by the media , so expect alot of BS .And if this ,as they say is a gift which is illegal , then I guess the money martin got from the unions to pay off his lawsuit his mouth got him into is a gift also, where is the outrage? Enough of the double standards.

Edited November 21, 2013 by PIK

[PIK]

How can Harper stand up in Parliament and be called "honourable" I don't know if there a law to kick a PM out of office but either way, the MP's will be the ones to pay. Canadians have never seen this before and I guess it just show how society's moral value have dropped.

The same way chretien was , except chretien was actually corrupt. And your statement about society's moral value have dropped, give us a break the liberals took care of that themselves , as in chretien and dalton. This is the cleanest gov we have had in along time , you know, I know it , but it certainly bugs the shit out of you.

[Boges]

How can Harper stand up in Parliament and be called "honourable" I don't know if there a law to kick a PM out of office but either way, the MP's will be the ones to pay. Canadians have never seen this before and I guess it just show how society's moral value have dropped.

Over a few thousand dollars in improper expenses? Hyperbole much? By Senators, not elected officials.

By your logic the entire Ontario Liberal party should be turfed.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Boges

[Keepitsimple]

Here's the shameful part of the media bloodlust - a good man is being pulled through the mud......

Q: So, why did Mr. Wright cut the cheque anyway?

In addition to sparing the party embarrassment, the most Shakespearean element of the Wright-Duffy affair appears to be that Mr. Wright wrote the senator a cheque because he felt it was the right thing to do. A man who had made his fortune in the private sector, Mr. Wright told the RCMP he was content to fund his own way through public service. He said he never claimed any expenses for his governmental work — and was out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars as a result.

“Because of [these] personal beliefs and financial ability, he took the personal decision at the time to pay back the $90,000. He did not view it as something out of the norm for him to do, and was part of being a good person.”

Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/20/six-things-to-know-about-fraud-and-bribery-allegations-surrounding-nigel-wright-and-mike-duffy/

[PIK]

And people want to bring this country down over that ,talk about a bunch of children running the left. Grow the fuck up, this constant crying over every little thing is embarressing the country world wide. You lost the election, and you will have another chance in 15, quit trying to change governments in the courts.

[The_Squid]

The same way chretien was , except chretien was actually corrupt.

The PMO bribing a senator is indeed corruption... even when it is done by "your guy"... I know that's a foreign concept to some of the partisan hacks here... but ,yes... it is a big deal.

The PM's lack of judgement in appointing these people is an issue...

Conservative senators defrauding Canadian tax payyers is a big deal...

The PM lying in parliament about who knew... no one knew... then a few people knew... now a whole bunch of his staff knew... and yet the PM was blindly ignorant of all that was going on... his incompetence as a PM is an issue.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/11/20/andrew-coyne-stephen-harpers-story-and-reputation-still-hanging-on-by-a-thread/

Whatever might be meant by Mr. Wright’s later email to a colleague, that “the PM knows, in broad terms only, that I personally assisted Duffy when I was getting him to agree to repay the expenses,” and regardless of the officer’s statement, offered elsewhere, that “I have seen no evidence to suggest that the Prime Minister was personally involved in the minutiae of those matters,” it seems clear that he knew a great deal more than he has let on. Which was, you will remember, nothing.

The same applies to his underlings. Whoever knew specifically about Mr. Wright’s later amendment to the deal, there were a great many who knew about, and participated in, the original deal. And unlike the Prime Minister, who only this month artfully dodged direct questions in the House on whether he knew about any arrangement for the party to pay, almost everyone else in this sorry tale has been caught in what would seem to be glaring contradictions in their account of what they knew or did.

[cybercoma]

Case closed I'd say.

Yup. Case closed. That's why the RCMP thinks everyone in the PMO is lying to them and they're going to have their forensic experts scour the Senate servers for emails that they believe were deleted. Case closed. No big deal.

Remember when Harper said either Chretien knew about what was going on and is corrupt or he didn't now and he's incompetent...

Yeah. That.

Edited November 21, 2013 by cybercoma

[cybercoma]

What a joke this has become. There is nothing here that effects anyone.

I'm sure you said the same thing about AdScam. It was just bad bookkeeping. There was nothing there that affected anyone.

[cybercoma]

How can Harper stand up in Parliament and be called "honourable"

That would be the Right Honourable, Stephen Harper.

[Mighty AC]

Here's the shameful part of the media bloodlust - a good man is being pulled through the mud......

Q: So, why did Mr. Wright cut the cheque anyway?

In addition to sparing the party embarrassment, the most Shakespearean element of the Wright-Duffy affair appears to be that Mr. Wright wrote the senator a cheque because he felt it was the right thing to do. A man who had made his fortune in the private sector, Mr. Wright told the RCMP he was content to fund his own way through public service. He said he never claimed any expenses for his governmental work — and was out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars as a result.

“Because of [these] personal beliefs and financial ability, he took the personal decision at the time to pay back the $90,000. He did not view it as something out of the norm for him to do, and was part of being a good person.”

Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/20/six-things-to-know-about-fraud-and-bribery-allegations-surrounding-nigel-wright-and-mike-duffy/

Harper, Wright and the rest of the PMO could have just been transparent about Duffy's expenses and vowed to fix the confusing expense rules. However, they made a political decision to lie because it would appear more palatable to their base.

It does sound like Wright is a good guy, but good or not he got caught up in a PMO lie for better optics.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Mighty AC

[cybercoma]

It's not just lying. It's paying off Senators in order to have them be uncooperative with criminal investigations and audits.

[Guest Derek L]

Didn't he have a heart operation a few days ago?

So what? Angina is the least of his worries……..granted it’s probably better he dealt with it prior to the eventual court case.

[antique]

Why should we be surprised that the PMO wanted to pay Duffy's expenses back? It is because he and others have been collecting expenses for Conservative fundraising etc. from the Senate pot of money (taxpayers). I have no doubt others from the senate have been doing the same thing for years. Tweedle dee tweedle dum! This and only this is why the PM has been trying mightily to bury this issue. Not much hope of that now.

[ReeferMadness]

Yup. Case closed. That's why the RCMP thinks everyone in the PMO is lying to them and they're going to have their forensic experts scour the Senate servers for emails that they believe were deleted. Case closed. No big deal.

Remember when Harper said either Chretien knew about what was going on and is corrupt or he didn't now and he's incompetent...

Yeah. That.

yes, Harper is the world's biggest hypocrite. He came in promising to clean up Ottawa and now the self-righteous crowd who voted him in are mirroring his hypocrisy.

[brian66]

The Senate needs to be abolished however the odds that will happen is nil.

I didn't know that the process by which to reform the Senate had been layer out in the constitution.

getting all the provinces to agree on a path forward will be difficult.

Concerned that we will get back into the constitutional discussions of the 80s.

http://looniepolitics.com/reform-senate-abolitionists/

[Smallc]

Remember when Harper said either Chretien knew about what was going on and is corrupt or he didn't now and he's incompetent...

Yeah. That.

I don't believe that either.

[g_bambino]

yes, Harper is the world's biggest hypocrite.

No bigger than any other politician. Saying one thing while in opposition and then doing the exact opposite when on the other side of the aisle is an age old tradition.

[Topaz]

Even if it is proven that Harper lied and did know, nothing will be done to HIM and others will pay. Today, out in Brandon, were it looks they could lose the seat, he said that THIS party was the one that brought in Accountability and lower taxes. Well, Canadians have a different view in their accountability and lower taxes?? Yeah lower GST, increase EI premuims, close taxloops, (last budget C-4) which is good but it does raise taxes and this time on the upper-middle and up, which also goes after certain investments.This right now is going through the senate and by their reaction to it, they will probably have many amends to the Bill.

[PIK]

I don't think this will go anywhere. People are on to what is going on, just a witch hunt by the left to keep the eye off of themselves with the help of the media party. And the worst is nigel is probably one of the most honest men around and trid to do what was right and get the moiney back. Now because of mulcair and the media party this has been blown out of porportion and nigel will be the only one to get hurt in all this. The man never even put in a expense claim , he paid everything himself. Well I guess good lads finish last in this country. Time for tommy to take his ball and go home or start egtting back to the business of the day, like trade deals, boats, jobs and anything else that effects the people of this country.

[jacee]

I don't think this will go anywhere. People are on to what is going on, just a witch hunt by the left to keep the eye off of themselves with the help of the media party.

I see the 'right' has a new strategy for everything: attack the messenger. I guess their supporters are gullible enough to fall for that.

And the worst is nigel is probably one of the most honest men around and trid to do what was right and get the moiney back.

Why didn't he just make Duffy pay it back himself?

Wright didn't have to do it the illegal way.

He chose to.

To shut Duffy up.

That's bribery.

The charges

Now because of mulcair and the media party this has been blown out of proportion ....

That's ridiculous.

If the public wasn't interested in knowing about senate expense padding, the media wouldn't be reporting on it. It's got legs.

It wasn't Mulcair who called the media and the RCMP: It was Harper.

Mulcair's poll numbers are going up as long as he keeps the pressure on Harper.

We don't have a one party system.

This is how demoncracy works.

The media and the opposition parties are doing their jobs.

Edited November 23, 2013 by jacee

[jacee]

lone-tory-staffer-stood-his-ground-against-pmo-on-duffy-plan

OTTAWA -- In a scandal where even seasoned MPs and senators were persuaded to sing from the PMO songbook, a lone Conservative staff member stood his ground on parliamentary ethics.

Chris Montgomery is the plucky but soft-spoken Tory who said no when he was asked by some of the most powerful people in the country to help tinker with a Senate report on Sen. Mike Duffy's questionable housing expenses.

...

If that committee wouldn't play ball, the PMO talked about stacking a whole new subcommittee to do it.

"Chris simply does not believe in our goal of circling the wagons," Wright complained in an email about Montgomery.

"Because of this lack of buy in, it was impossible to discuss meaningfully the parliamentary strategy..."

Wright is a good man, according to many, here seen trying too hard to do his job of protecting the PM and going beyond the law.

Edited November 23, 2013 by jacee

[Keepitsimple]

The first thing Harper did with the RCMP was to waive parliamentary priviledge and give them access to ANY and ALL emails emanating from the PMO. Imagine - just one email would have killed him - just one......but obviously, he knew there wouldn't be one - because he never got involved in how Wright "resolved" the Duffy situation. If he had something to hide, he would have fought tooth and nail to avoid giving them at least SOME of the emails - just like the McGuinty/Wynne Liberals did - time and again with the gas plant fiasco.