Duffy? Mac Harb should have taken the spotlight!

[Keepitsimple]

Mike Duffy. Front page news. Breathless reports from the Star and CBC - days and weeks on end. Investigative reporters scouring for supporting stories. Nigel Wright - entrapped in the controversy of actually paying back the $90,000. And yet, we hear nothing of the Mac Harb situation - under suspician of improperly claiming well over $200,000 in illegal expenses. Well, it's out today - a side column on Page 3 of The Star. Even I was flabbergasted at the story. Just read it - it's incredible - and ask yourself....where were the investigative reporters? Where were the front page stories? This wasn't just fiddling with expenses - it was a clear, calculated case of fraud - real fraud. Jail time fraud. Will Power and Politics be all over this for the next month or so....I won't hold my breath.

CTV News reported Thursday night that the RCMP’s criminal case against Harb was laid out in an affidavit filed in court by the Mounties earlier that day. He’s under investigation over alleged breach of trust. He bought a home in Cobden, Ont., 123 kilometres from Ottawa, three months after he joined the Senate in September 2003, the network reported.

That allowed him to receive housing and living expenses from the Senate, an allowance of up to $22,000 under rules that say the primary residence of senators must be more than 100 kilometres from the nation’s capitol. The Mounties say Harb never lived in the home, and by “all accounts, that house was largely uninhabitable for the first three years that he owned it, due to demolition and reconstruction,’’ the network quotes RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton as saying.

“He did not live there, no he didn’t. It was apparent he didn’t live there, just because he was never there,” the network quotes neighbour Lisa Clark as saying.

In October 2007, Harb sold 99.99 per cent of the ownership of the Cobden home to Magdalene Teo, then the Brunei high commissioner to Canada, according to the report. Harb maintained a 0.01 per cent of the stake in the property but still claimed it as his primary residence, the report said.

Link: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/07/25/senate_scandal_rcmp_say_mac_harb_home_uninhabitable.html

[Topaz]

I don't think Canadians care much about the party the senator is from,on this topic. IF he did something wrong than he's as wrong as Duffy and the others. The reason for the Tory senators are singled out is all about Harper's "open and accountability" that only is in play, when he has the advantage. I don't know how long its going to take the Conservative supporters to wake up and smell something rotten in this party but hopeful they will be as smart as the Liberals supporters, and vote them out in the next election.

[PIK]

I don't think Canadians care much about the party the senator is from,on this topic. IF he did something wrong than he's as wrong as Duffy and the others. The reason for the Tory senators are singled out is all about Harper's "open and accountability" that only is in play, when he has the advantage. I don't know how long its going to take the Conservative supporters to wake up and smell something rotten in this party but hopeful they will be as smart as the Liberals supporters, and vote them out in the next election.

LOL

[scribblet]

:D Quite the story isn`t it (both of them). Where was the daring duo from the Gazette and the intrepid reporters from the Star on this one. Didn't bother digging deep enough on this one.

[Scotty]

What gets me about Harb, even more than Duffy, is that he never needed the money. He's been a sleazy local city Councillor for many years, and a big landlord with a lot of properties. The guy is worth millions. But he still has to fake expense claims. Then again, there was a column in the paper a few months back from a columnist who remembers renting a two bedroom apartment in Sandy Hill decades ago (a very nice neighborhood) from Mac Harb. One day his toilet broke, and he started calling Harb, getting only an answering machine. Eventually, after several days Mac Harb showed up at his door with a new toolbox, new tools, and a Plumbing for Dummies book (not kidding). He spent hours working on the toilet before getting it fixed. To say Harb is cheap is a huge understatement.

[PIK]

And where is the mac harb ballon?

[guyser]

And where is the mac harb ballon?

The appearance of being lightweight and light-footed while jumping? Edited July 26, 2013 by Guyser2

[PIK]

The appearance of being lightweight and light-footed while jumping?

I figure they picked duffy for the ballon because he a conservative and he is fat, a easy target to pick on.

[scribblet]

No doubt more to come.

Edited July 26, 2013 by scribblet

[The_Squid]

I figure they picked duffy for the ballon because he a conservative and he is fat, a easy target to pick on.

Ignoring the fact that there was a bribe from the PMO....

[cybercoma]

While you worry about spotlights, the rest of us will worry about the fraud these people are committing.

[scribblet]

Ignoring the fact that there was a bribe from the PMO....

Not true.

[On Guard for Thee]

I think PIK has it exactly right on this one. Canadians don't care what political stripe the offender comes under when he or she rips us off. If you do that you should pay the piper no matter what flag you fly. But speaking of political stripe, it seems the Harper senate appointees so far seem to make up the vast majority of those who face or may face criminal charges. And this from a man who claimed he wasn't going to appoint senators. Turns out he's appointed more than anyone. So I guess if the head gazouk demonstrates dishonesty, then it must be OK to fiddle the expense account.

Oh I'm probably on the "hit list" now.

[scribblet]

You know that he only started appointing Senators when he couldn't get the legislation passed (the Senate blocked it) He then started appointing them but required the appointees to agree to conditions. What was the PM supposed to do, leave all the positions open until the next gov't could fill it with theirs.

[westguy]

I find it hypocritical that so many posters criticized ( and still do) those Conservatives but when a Liberal Senator is found commiting fraud the same posters are silent

[Bryan]

You know that he only started appointing Senators when he couldn't get the legislation passed (the Senate blocked it) He then started appointing them but required the appointees to agree to conditions. What was the PM supposed to do, leave all the positions open until the next gov't could fill it with theirs.

Not only that, it's not as if the Conservatives just let Senate reform drop. They know full well there could be court challenges to any change they make, that's why they took the matter to the Supreme Court themselves to get a concrete decision on what they can and cannot do. That matter is still before the court, and the government is awaiting that ruling.

[PIK]

You know that he only started appointing Senators when he couldn't get the legislation passed (the Senate blocked it) He then started appointing them but required the appointees to agree to conditions. What was the PM supposed to do, leave all the positions open until the next gov't could fill it with theirs.

And the fact the coalition of the idiots were talking about appointing separtists to the senate and force harper to act. Harper has really done nothing wrong, it is all the dirty tricks from the left, unfortunilty the media just blames harper for everything. People are starting to figure that out.

[Smallc]

Yes, Harper is a Saint...Chretien on the other hand...

Do you know how silly some of you look with your inconsistency?

[bleeding heart]

Well, the thing is that I even have sympathy for the "liberals complain about this, but remain silent on that" theme. That's unquestionably true.

Unfortunately the people making this observation are--arguably without a single exception--guilty of exactly the same sins of omission. That too is self-evident.

And just by the way, what's with this whole Harper-Victim-Complex? (I mean among his defenders, not from himself.) It's frankly bizarre. It reeks a little of sycophancy, frankly.

[PIK]

Yes, Harper is a Saint...Chretien on the other hand...

Do you know how silly some of you look with your inconsistency?

Not as silly as you look. Chretien was a corrupt arrogant man. The man destroy his own party so he would alway be the top lib PM.

Edited July 27, 2013 by PIK

[Bob Macadoo]

Hey speaking of patronage appointments, cronyism, and fraud; I hope Dean del Mastro enjoys his ministerial appointment for all his hard partisan work......wait a sec no appointment, why's that do you suppose.......???

How was that for partisan misdirection?

In addition,;

Tie ye olde Harb to the yardarm......time for his flogging.

[cybercoma]

Yes, Harper is a Saint...Chretien on the other hand...

Do you know how silly some of you look with your inconsistency?

Come on. You mean it's ridiculous to be sitting here criticizing a Prime Minister from over 10 years ago?

[cybercoma]

Not as silly as you look. Chretien was a corrupt arrogant man. The man destroy his own party so he would alway be the top lib PM.

And Sir John A Macdonald was a raging drunk.

[Wilber]

Duffy, Harb, makes no difference to me. Amazing how when some of these folks are handed what is pretty much a money for nothing job and pension for life, it isn't enough for them. Makes you wonder a bit about the standards of those who appointed them.

[Smallc]

Not as silly as you look. Chretien was a corrupt arrogant man. The man destroy his own party so he would alway be the top lib PM.

Hey, I used to be a pretty big Harper defender....not anymore....he's no better.