Why don't you just stick to the topic yourself.
Bullies just pile on.
Brachina, could we stay on the topic of the Duffy Trial please? Do you really have such a dislike of Justin Trudeau that you would rather Harper & the CPC continue to get away with their corruption, or would you prefer that LPC & NDP are given the chance this year of bringing the Cons down?
Even if you dislike LPC, this could help NDP, too.
Lots of Conservative dirt getting revealed in the exhibits in Court today!
Mark Audcent, the recently retired Senate law clerk, admitted the concept of “primary residence” has never been defined in Senate administration rules. The chief legal officer at the Senate for almost 20 years was testifying at Mike Duffy’s criminal trial…
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/04/08/duffy-trial-former-senate-law-clerk-d...
I think it's fair to say that I AM on topic. I'm the main one posting updates from the Duffy Trial.
Seems Duffy was phoning a certain CRTC commissioner in April of 2012 to talk about "upcoming CRTC hearings"
PM Harper knew about $90,000 repayment scheme, argues Duffy's lawyer
'The payment was the culmination of a conspiratorial strategy directed by Nigel Wright in concert with a small group, his own words, of his PMO cohorts and underlings and three key Tory Senators' to protect the prime minister, defence laywer Donald Bayne says.
Wednesday, 04/08/2015
The former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who wrote a cheque for $90,000 to pay off suspended Senator Mike Duffy’s expense claims after allegations he illegitimately claimed his P.E.I. summer home as a primary residence, will testify at a criminal trial over the affair that Mr. Harper “gave the go-ahead” for a PMO scheme pressuring Sen. Duffy into an admission he broke Senate rules, Sen. Duffy’s lawyer told a judge Tuesday.
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/04/08/pm-harper-knew-about-$90000-repayment-scheme-argues-duffys-lawyer/41705
Duffy talks to Cotler about his political future, passes on info to PMO. Two months later Cotler target of robocalls:
PM Harper knew about $90,000 repayment scheme, argues Duffy's lawyer
'The payment was the culmination of a conspiratorial strategy directed by Nigel Wright in concert with a small group, his own words, of his PMO cohorts and underlings and three key Tory Senators' to protect the prime minister, defence laywer Donald Bayne says.
Wednesday, 04/08/2015
The former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who wrote a cheque for $90,000 to pay off suspended Senator Mike Duffy’s expense claims after allegations he illegitimately claimed his P.E.I. summer home as a primary residence, will testify at a criminal trial over the affair that Mr. Harper “gave the go-ahead” for a PMO scheme pressuring Sen. Duffy into an admission he broke Senate rules, Sen. Duffy’s lawyer told a judge Tuesday.
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/04/08/pm-harper-knew-about-$90000-repayment-scheme-argues-duffys-lawyer/41705
This would become a huge scandal if it came out that Harper knew about the $90,000 re-payment scheme before it was offered to Duffy. Harper would be caught blatantly lying to both the public and law enforcement. If that was the case, I think Harper would have to resign. Although I don't think Harper could have made such a stupid mistake. If he did Mulcair's surgical cross examination of him in the House would make Canadian history. The fear of that alone would likely lead Harper to quickly resign!
Duffy's diaries shed light on life of a Conservative party insider
BY JASON FEKETE, OTTAWA CITIZEN
APRIL 8, 2015
Cabinet minister Peter MacKay believed a former aide to the prime minister had leaked an embarrassing story about MacKay’s use of a search-and-rescue helicopter for personal reasons, according to Mike Duffy’s personal diary.
And senators weren’t very happy about how the incident was handled, Duffy’s personal documents also indicate.
The story is just part of the evidence tabled in the suspended senator’s fraud trial that is shedding fascinating light on Duffy’s daily life, his dealings with the Prime Minister’s Office and Conservative MPs, and – from his earliest days in the Senate – his problems with expense claims.
Duffy kept a detailed calendar, part diary, of his daily activities during his time in the Senate, covering everything from his meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and staff in the PMO, to the senator’s health issues, to charging for appearance fees while a senator, and even the earliest news reports in the Ottawa Citizen about his expense claims.
---
More:
http://www.canada.com/News/politics/Duffy+diaries+shed+light+life+Conser...
So where's the smoking gun? So far pretty tame, boring stuff.
Sounds like there are minimal requirements to be a Senator from any province.
I wonder what kind of land you could purchase in BC for $4,000.
Duffy's $43 breakfast and $150 lunch were mentioned but where did he have supper? 
Less than a day after his Senate appointment, Mike Duffy was already at the public teat
When the man with no shame met the place with no rules, so perfect was the marriage, so instant the attraction, the fireworks must have been spectacular
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/christie-blatchford-less-than-...
This should be a hoot!
Lawyer signals Mike Duffy is ready to testify in his own defence
Mike Duffy is getting ready to testify in his own defence at his fraud and bribery trial, giving himself a podium to attack the Conservative government while opening himself up to further questions about his living and travel expenses while in the Senate.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mike-duffy-trial-told-about...
Mike Duffy, Stephen Harper and the politics of panic
By Christopher Waddell | Apr 8, 2015
Excerpt:
---
When cornered, the Harper government’s practice is to threaten, intimidate and eliminate — or, if all else fails, to simply ignore the institutions and individuals that try to get in its way. The evidence is so familiar that it scarcely requires repeating: Prime Minister Harper’s bizarre attack on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, his snide criticisms of President Obama over the Keystone XL project, the baffling decision to kill the long-form census, the serial omnibus bills that have helped turn parliamentary oversight into a bad joke, the serial justice bills that give the middle finger to the Constitution, the throttling of witness testimony at parliamentary committees (read the transcripts on Bill C-51, if you have a strong stomach).
Harper knowingly appointing a senator who probably wasn’t eligible for the job wouldn’t be just an instance of bad judgement — it would sum up his entire approach to politics. When the PM wants something, nothing — not the rules, not decency or common sense — can stand in his way. He wanted Mike Duffy in the Senate because he wanted to exploit the Red Chamber’s laughably lax rules to channel the broadcaster’s fame and charisma into fundraising for the Conservative Party of Canada — with the sucker taxpayer covering the tab.
What the Duffy affair laid bare is the how the Harper PMO approaches the game, whether it’s appointing a Senator or ramming a bill through Parliament: If it can’t be demonstrated that what the PM wants to do is strictly, clearly illegal, then it’s good to go.
---
More:
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/04/08/mike-duffy-stephen-harper-and-the-pol...
Nothing to see here.
Senate's ex-law clerk says senator residence rules undefined
On the issue of primary residence: Not guilty!
But what Duffy have for breakfast that cost $43 - maybe he was dining with Bev Oda.
If Duffy is willing to testify on his own behalf it means that he does not feel that the evidence is sufficient to raise enough doubt. If I had an iron clad case, I would have it all read into evidence and left it to the judge, and not subjected myself to cross-examination.
Having watched innumerable detective and court shows in a former life, I have the following hunches:
1. The image of Duffy as an entitlement leech who lived lavishly off of the public dime is enduring. His attitude in court is doing nothing to dispel this image. They should not convict him because, well, he's Mike Duffy, the man with the inside story on everything! This could be a trick by Duffy as below.
2. Duffy and his lawyers are in a cocky mode, and they think that enough dirt on the Tories is going to get him off. Are the Tories going to suddenly pull the plug on his case if they are feeling too much pain? They can't now. The cat is out of the bag. Even if they found Harper running an illegal arms dealing business out of the Prime Minister's Office, it would not get Duffy off of fraud.
3. If there is even the slightest whiff that Duffy is trying to make a mockery out of the court process by his showmanship, the judge will squash him like a cockroach. I get the sense that because of Duffy's suspected arrogance above he will quickly rub the Court the wrong way. Justice must prevail.
4. It could however be possible that the Tories laid a trap for Duffy and some other senators to manufacture a crisis. One of Duffy's best shots is to argue that the rules were not exactly clear and he believed he acted in good faith, from what he knew of the Senate and the House at the time.
5. Why would Nigel Wright offer a cheque for exactly $90,000? This is really fishy. Why wasn't it some exact amount which was the total of the bills? Even the richest people in the world do not give unnecessary money for nothing, as they would prefer to keep it for themselves.
This Senate stink before it is all over could have serious advantages for the NDP as Canadians will be disgusted by the spectacle of these Liberal and Conservative Senators blowing Canadian's hard-earned money, and we are not talking about chicken-feed either. Apart from the ones already charged, 40 other Senators are being investigated.
In fairness, NorthReport, there are now only Conservative and Independent senators. Any anti-Senate decision Trudeau makes (even in a panic) is good for the anti-Senate cause.
As much as many want it the Senate will never be abolished.
Duffy, as Senator, Paid Journalists
Ezra Levant and Mark Bourrie accepted work contracts
http://canadalandshow.com/article/duffy-senator-paid-journalists
As much as many want it the Senate will never be abolished.
Interesting concession on your part.
So you admit the NDP position on wanting to abolish the Senate is largely political posturing.
Just as many commentators have been saying lately.
Glen McGregor said on CTV Question Period on Sunday that Trudeau's position on the Senate is the most realistic one right now.
The usual Liberal spin.
The NDP should run on abolishing the Senate but it will be Liberals and Conservatives in the provincial governments blocking it so their cronies can continue to be pigs at the trough.
It's not spin. It's a Constitutional reality that was ruled on by the SUPREME COURT OF CANADA last year.
Mulcair as a lawyer should know better than to put forward such an unrealistic proposal. Even the Québec government doesn't agree with him on this.
Just compounding the usual Liberal nonsense.
Getting back to the topic of the thread . . .
---
Why Duffy’s trial will interest voters more than Conservatives think
Thursday, Apr. 09 2015
BRUCE ANDERSON
When I stopped by the CBC bureau in Ottawa on the opening day of the trial, I gazed at a giant five-inch stack of papers, one of seven that were tabled that day. I couldn’t help but think how anxiety-inducing the production of such documents must be for Conservative officials.
The testimony emerging in this trial will be chock full of vignettes about who spent how much of our money on what, who said or thought what about whom, and what people spend their days doing.
We’ll see whether Mike Duffy is guilty. But in Ottawa this week, that’s not what’s been keeping people up at night.
---
More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//news/politics/why-duffys-trial-will-inte...
The difference being Duffy is not the prime minister except maybe in his own head.
Mike Duffy trial highlights Stephen Harper’s use of makeup artist
The fact that Stephen Harper and Mike Duffy employed the services of the same makeup artist surfaced in court earlier this week.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/04/09/mike-duffy-trial-highlight...
Duffy has had a good first week - could he be acquitted, and if so, what impact would that have?
Harper defied the BNA Act by naming Duffy and Wallin to the Senate
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2015/04/harper-defied-bna...
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/04/09/mike-duffys-finest-...
Why now? A sense of mortality? (Duffy has serious heart problems.) Confessor’s remorse? Sheer ego but at a higher level? Whatever. He got what he aimed, connived and grovelled for, then had it snatched away. Not a fate he’d have chosen. But the decision to now stand tall, as it were, and strike back at the mighty power that abandoned him, is really his. And it’s a far, far better thing — publicly anyway — than he has ever done.
Round 2 - Duffy
Duffy’s lawyer, Donald Bayne, tried to counter that argument with the assistance of two photographs featuring Duffy and Prime Minister Stephen Harper at public events.
Bayne argued that any political activity or event is fair game as the Senate rules go and Harper made it clear he wanted Duffy on the road, supporting the Conservatives.
Audcent agreed with Bayne’s analysis that there are no real limits on what constitutes legitimate activities for a senator — apart from campaigning for an MP during an election, or private business.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/04/10/senate-rules-expert-set-to...
Patrick Brazeau shows up to support Duffy!
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2663106992/
And yes, of course the Senate should be abolished. More than ever. What should we do with the chamber?
Round One: Duffyhttp://warrenkinsella.com/2015/04/why-mike-duffy-will-likely-win-on-the-...
unbelievable we are still relying on a document stating each senator must have 4000.00 above his personal debt or he can't be one, along with owning a 4000.00 house in the area he is representing.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-2.html#h-5
BNA # 23 3-6
Round One: Duffyhttp://warrenkinsella.com/2015/04/why-mike-duffy-will-likely-win-on-the-...
unbelievable we are still relying on a document stating each senator must have 4000.00 above his personal debt or he can't be one, along with owning a 4000.00 house in the area he is representing.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-2.html#h-5
BNA # 23 3-6
Round 3 - Duffy!
Nothing to see here folks.
Senators have broad discretion over who they hire, court hears
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-trial-senators-have-broad-dis...
That is a holdover from the longstanding, antidemocratic, property requirements for voting or eligibility for office. Should be dumped along with the Senate.
Susan Delacourt has an interesting article in the Toronto Star today explaining the similarities between Conservative Mike Duffy and Liberal Scott Andrews
That is a holdover from the longstanding, antidemocratic, property requirements for voting or eligibility for office. Should be dumped along with the Senate.
studying the BNA in school is a lot different tah reading it as an adult. i think we need to become a republic and get rid of the commonwealth status.
Crown says Mike Duffy billed Senate for funeral, dog show
Ford says councillors billed City for party costumes, French lessons.
Someone wake me when this is the final nail in Harper's coffin, or whatever.
Susan Delacourt has an interesting article in the Toronto Star today explaining the similarities between Conservative Mike Duffy and Liberal Scott Andrews
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/04/10/downfall-of-mike-duffy-sc...
What’s happened in both these sorry sagas — Senate and sexual harassment — are new lines drawn in the Old Boys culture of federal politics: fewer winks or eyes averted to misdeeds committed in the name of “friendliness.”Thanks to the downfall of Duffy, Andrews and Pacetti, it’s going to be a lot harder for anyone,even the most jovial sorts, to go back to business as usual in their dealings with political friends or the opposite sex.
Interesting point. Didn't I read the senators expenses dropped after this scandal broke?
As much as many want it the Senate will never be abolished.
I agree -- makes me think the NDP making a mistake not getting into the discussion about reform.
The NDP could release a vision for abolition as well as a vision for reform if the chamber is kept. There are good things that the Senate could be put to if the NDP were part of that discussion.
The NDP really captured the popular imagination by calling for Senate abolition.
And abolishing ATM fees.
And lowering credit card interest rates.
And of course floor-crossing legislation.
Don't discourage them while they're ahead. Victory is nigh!!
Senate Abolition is a great issue for the Canadian Zeitgeist. Not being the Liberal-Conservatives also seems to be good for the NDP as well.
Susan Delacourt has an interesting article in the Toronto Star today explaining the similarities between Conservative Mike Duffy and Liberal Scott Andrewshttp://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/04/10/downfall-of-mike-duffy-sc...
What’s happened in both these sorry sagas — Senate and sexual harassment — are new lines drawn in the Old Boys culture of federal politics: fewer winks or eyes averted to misdeeds committed in the name of “friendliness.”Thanks to the downfall of Duffy, Andrews and Pacetti, it’s going to be a lot harder for anyone,even the most jovial sorts, to go back to business as usual in their dealings with political friends or the opposite sex.
Interesting point. Didn't I read the senators expenses dropped after this scandal broke?
Delacourt's commentary also illustrates how the strong stand taken by Justin Trudeau against sexual harassment has sent a message that the behaviour of the Old Boys club will not be tolerated anymore.
As if Trudeau had a choice.
Mike Duffy, Stephen Harper and the politics of panic
By Christopher Waddell | Apr 8, 2015
----
Excerpt:
If Mr. Duffy knew he was ineligible, the Prime Minister’s Office knew as well. Nothing else makes sense. The PMO likely wasn’t worried at the time, of course. This is not a government that worries about bending rules, or even breaking them.
When cornered, the Harper government’s practice is to threaten, intimidate and eliminate — or, if all else fails, to simply ignore the institutions and individuals that try to get in its way. The evidence is so familiar that it scarcely requires repeating: Prime Minister Harper’s bizarre attack on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, his snide criticisms of President Obama over the Keystone XL project, the baffling decision to kill the long-form census, the serial omnibus bills that have helped turn parliamentary oversight into a bad joke, the serial justice bills that give the middle finger to the Constitution, the throttling of witness testimony at parliamentary committees (read the transcripts on Bill C-51, if you have a strong stomach).
Mr. Harper knowingly appointing a senator who probably wasn’t eligible for the job wouldn’t be just an instance of bad judgement — it would sum up his entire approach to politics. When the PM wants something, nothing — not the rules, not decency or common sense — can stand in his way. He wanted Mike Duffy in the Senate because he wanted to exploit the Red Chamber’s laughably lax rules to channel the broadcaster’s fame and charisma into fundraising for the Conservative Party of Canada — with the sucker taxpayer covering the tab.
What the Duffy affair laid bare is the how the Harper PMO approaches the game, whether it’s appointing a Senator or ramming a bill through Parliament: If it can’t be demonstrated that what the PM wants to do is strictly, clearly illegal, then it’s good to go.
----
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/04/08/mike-duffy-stephen-harper-and-the-pol...
Why It's Really Stephen Harper On Trial, Not Mike Duffy
04/11/2015
Excerpt:
Harper will take blows from both sides. The Crown has already said it believes Duffy wasn't qualified to sit in the Senate -- that the former CTV journalist and longtime Ottawa resident didn't meet the basic residency requirement to represent his native Prince Edward Island and that he should never have been appointed to the upper house. So why did Harper appoint Duffy?
Bayne has answers. Duffy was appointed to be a political tool for the prime minister, he suggested in his opening remarks. Was Duffy so valuable that the prime minister and those acting on his behalf would have bent the rules -- not once, but several times -- to protect him?
During the first three days of trial, Duffy's counsel laid the groundwork for a narrative that could prove quite damaging to the prime minister.
Duffy, or perhaps it was others around him, worried that the journalist didn't meet the Senate's constitutional eligibility requirements. The day of his announcement, a newspaper report quoted some Conservatives questioning Duffy's residency -- he summered at his cottage near Green Gables -- in the province.
---
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/althia-raj/mike-duffy-stephen-harper-trial_...
When the PM wants something, nothing — not the rules, not decency or common sense — can stand in his way. He wanted Mike Duffy in the Senate because he wanted to exploit the Red Chamber’s laughably lax rules to channel the broadcaster’s fame and charisma into fundraising for the Conservative Party of Canada — with the sucker taxpayer covering the tab.
So, for two years, I've been wondering what the rules are in the Commons.
Anyone know - or care?
Humm.....
Senate would have nixed Duffy contracts if they knew more, trial told
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/senate-would-have-nixed-duf...
No wonder Liberals and Conservatives want to keep the Senate.
Duffy's right of course "hog" being the key word here.
Duffy's defence: It's not just me
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/editorial/daily_editorial/2015-04-13/duf...
Duffy trial could go long, run into campaign orbit
The Canadian Press –
1 hour 30 minutes ago
OTTAWA - The Mike Duffy trial looks like it is going to go longer than the 41 days allotted, potentially dragging it into the orbit of the autumn federal election campaign.
Ontario court Justice Charles Vaillancourt says he doesn't see the trial completing its task by June 19, as set out in the original time frame.
---
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trial-mike-duffy-31-charges-set-day-7-08001551...
Duffy trial could go long, judge warns, possibly going into campaign
