Andrew Coyne: The only right thing left for Mike Duffy to do now is resign

[SebC]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...right-pmo.html

CBC News has learned that Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, had control of a secret fund in the Prime Minister’s Office when he cut the now infamous $90,000 "personal cheque" to disgraced Senator Mike Duffy.

In exclusive interviews, sources familiar with the fund tell CBC the money in it comes from Conservative Party coffers, and at times has reached almost $1 million.

Like all political party funds, more than half of all the cash in the secret PMO stash ultimately comes from taxpayers' pockets.

As much as I dislike scandal politics... this is just too good to pass up.

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by SebC

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...right-pmo.html

As much as I dislike scandal politics... this is just too good to pass up.

Honest question, with no bias any way. If this is true does this reach an epic level of scandal and corruption? Is this something that Harper would have to resign over? I have very little knowledge of previous scandals as far as actual numbers and funds.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

Honest question, with no bias any way. If this is true does this reach an epic level of scandal and corruption? Is this something that Harper would have to resign over? I have very little knowledge of previous scandals as far as actual numbers and funds.

It bumps the Duffy scandal up a notch if Duffy's fine was going to paid for through party(/taxpayer) dollars. The Conservatives are telling is it wasn't, but there's no way (short of a polygraph) to say if Wright would or wouldn't have used the fund to repay to himself the money that he gave to Duffy. We go from having the PMO's Chief of Staff "bribing" a senator to bribing him with taxpayer money.

It's still pennies compared to sponsorship (which is itself pennies compared to the money wasted by Harper on bad policy). Harper won't be legally forced to resign. If he does resign it would be his choice, and likely for other reasons.

[Smartcar]

The Conservatives are saying a lot of things that aren't true.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2...al_walkom.html

Earlier in the day, Conservative backbencher Chris Alexander was given the unenviable task of defending the fund on CBC Radio. He said all political parties defray the partisan activities of their leaders, which is true.
He also said, “All of those expenses are reported to Elections Canada.” Which is not true.
And he said that anything the Conservatives do as a party is “overseen as to its appropriateness by Elections Canada.” Which is also not true.

In fact, as an Elections Canada spokesman confirmed Friday, the monitoring body has limited jurisdiction.
Parties must reveal all donations to Elections Canada, which then makes the list public. Parties must account for money they spend on activities during the relatively short period of an election campaign.
But political parties are under no obligation to tell Elections Canada, or indeed anyone, how they spend their money at other times.
“We do not regulate how parties spend their money between elections,” the spokesman said.
If the Conservatives want to channel funds secretly to the Prime Minister’s Office, they have every legal right to do so.
And, provided expenditures don’t take place during a formal election campaign, they may use this money for whatever they want — from polling to massage therapy to $90,000 salary bonuses.

It’s worth noting that political donations in Canada are heavily subsidized through the tax system. This means that, in effect, any money spent from the Harper slush fund on $90,000 bonuses would contain a public component.

Interesting. I had no idea that political donations with their 75% tax credit could be spent, most of the time, in any way the party wants with no accounting for it.

[Mr.Coffee]

this is actually ridiculous, why can't our government just do things right for fata sakes?

[Daradon]

Yeah it sure doesn't take long for power to corrupt.

Course I think a lot of people are drawn to politics for those very reasons now. It's not to do the right thing, to make a difference, or even to selfishly say, 'hey look at me! I'm the leader!' It's to get all the perks and backroom dealings that come with it. It sets you (and your family) up for life. More so and more so the more corrupt you are.

[nik-]

Sooooo ..... ?

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...eat-standings/

The Conservatives still blew it this term, but ...

[SebC]

Originally Posted by nik-

Sooooo ..... ?

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...eat-standings/

The Conservatives still blew it this term, but ...

I'm not entirely clear on why he's been determined to owe money. They ask for a primary residence 100 km away, which he has?

Just because someone people are crazy enough to spend 2 hours a day getting to and from work doesn't mean we should disqualify our Senators from their living allowance if they don't want to do that. I sure as heck wouldn't.