National Newswatch

Mike Duffy billed two Tory campaigns $510 during 2011 election while claiming Senate allowance

Sen. Mike Duffy billed two Conservative campaigns $510 for appearing alongside candidates in Nova Scotia during the 2011 federal election, while also receiving an allowance for being in Ottawa on Senate business.

In Peru, PM’s officials say Harper will answer questions on Senate controversy

The Senate expenses scandal is turning Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to South America into an awkward communications exercise.

Duffy’s 2011 election campaign tours to Tory ridings organized by Party HQ

Election campaign appearances by Senator Mike Duffy in 2011, now part of a controversy over his Senate expense claims during the same time period, were part of…

If she was in Duffy’s shoes, Senator Nancy Greene Raine would quit

Were she in Mike Duffy’s shoes, Nancy Greene Raine would resign. The Conservative Kamloops senator said her Prince Edward Island counterpart’s behaviour in the wake of a housing expenses scandal has been “sad and disappointing” to watch.

Special At Issue Panel: The Prime Minister Speaks

Yesterday, Stephen Harper spoke publicly for the first time since his Chief of Staff quit. Our At Issue panel weighs in on if he hurt, or helped, his cause.

Army tried to scuttle combat vehicle purchase amid deep cuts

The Canadian Army tried to cancel the purchase of a new armoured vehicle fleet, wanting to use the $2 billion instead to offset budget cuts that are hurting its combat readiness.

Liberal senators want key players in Duffy controversy to testify

Liberal senators are trying to force key players in the scandal involving Sen. Mike Duffy’s expense repayment to testify before special parliamentary hearings.

Duffy expense controversy sent back to closed-door Senate committee

Conservative senators have sent Mike Duffy’s controversial improper expenses back to the same closed-door committee that initially reviewed them, rejecting a Liberal bid to have the matter referred directly to the police.

Ottawa hurries up and waits for Senate crisis answers

The prime minister is in South America, on a trade mission. The foreign minister is in the House of Commons, engaging in damage control. The Senate’s internal economy committee is down the hall, investigating Senator Mike Duffy‘s improperly claimed expenses.

Senate returns to business as usual despite spending scandal

“Colleagues, there can be no business as usual. Enough is enough.” The clarion call from James Cowan, the Liberal leader in the Senate, came late Tuesday evening as Parliament’s chamber of sober second thought returned from…

Harper speech fails to answer questions on Duffy controversy: P.E.I. MPs

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s speech Tuesday on the Senate expense scandal did nothing to satisfy the many unanswered questions swirling around P.E.I. Senator Mike Duffy, according to Prince Edward Island MPs.

UBC Law Professor says media story “false”

A UBC law professor is firing back at CTV after being linked to the ongoing senate expense scandal involving Senator Mike Duffy and others. In a statement Benjamin Perrin calls the CTV story “false.”

Jacques Demers may quit Senate over scandal

The Senate expense scandal of the past week may soon claim an unlikely victim.

Senate scandal casts shadow over South American trip

Some political pundits say the most recent chapter of the ongoing Senate spending scandal will likely overshadow the Conservative government’s upcoming foreign policy plans.

Stephen Harper tries to turn scandal into distraction

Tim Harper — Stephen Harper had 1,115 words for his caucus in his content-free, made-for-TV speech Tuesday morning, but one word stood out. He called the Senate expense scandal a “distraction.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper flees scandal: As damage control goes, this was a train wreck

Michael Den Tandt — Should Alberta’s Wildrose party ever choose to launch a federal wing, Tuesday’s tragi-comedy on Parliament Hill will serve as a helpful point of germination. And should the Conservative…

Stephen Harper and the ‘noble lie’

Don Lenihan — Everyone’s piling on Mike Duffy, but I’d like to congratulate him for a job well done. If not for his bookkeeping habits, we might never have known how vast the gap is between the government’s talking points and its real views on accountability.

Harper needs to quit hiding behind his staff

Dan Lett — Will Prime Minister Stephen Harper ever face a direct question about how his chief of staff became inexplicably involved in the raging Senate expense scandal? Right now, loyal cabinet ministers are taking bullets for Harper in question period and,,,

PM’s promises don’t blunt impact of Senate scandal

Marilla Stephenson — Mr. Accountability remained unaccountable on Tuesday, delivering an utterly inadequate response to the Senate scandal before conveniently hopping a jet bound for Peru. The best Prime Minister Stephen Harper could come up with in his…

Senate expense scandal points to the essential Stephen Harper

Tom Walkom — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has attempted to put the Senate scandal behind him. He has failed. He has failed because the imbroglio in the upper chamber speaks to more than the dubious accounting methods said to be employed by Mike Duffy…

Stephen Harper’s leadership is on the line

Toronto Star — Prime Minister Stephen Harper may be “very upset” at the Senate scandal that is gnawing away at his Conservative government’s credibility, and deservedly so. But the political fix doesn’t lie in finger-wagging at Senate miscreants…

Big issue with Canada’s Senate isn’t misspending, it’s representation

Barbara Yaffe — British Columbians should resist getting sidetracked by the controversy involving four misspending Independents in the Senate. Because this province’s biggest grievance against the upper chamber is, and long has been, related to a constitutionally entrenched…

PM ultimately responsible for the conduct of his office

L. Ian MacDonald — Nigel Wright did the right and honourable thing in resigning as Stephen Harper’s chief of staff for writing a personal cheque for $90,000 to Senator Mike Duffy so Duffy could reimburse the government for disallowed travel expenses.

For Conservatives, this, too, shall pass (unless it doesn’t)

Jeffrey Simpson — For a government already adrift at midterm, the Nigel Wright-Mike Duffy affair, coupled with the resignation from caucus of another Conservative senator, Pamela Wallin, represents an unwelcome distraction. It’s doubtful that Prime Minister…

Stephen Harper lets us down

Anthony Furey — For someone so focused on accountability, Stephen Harper sure has a strange way of addressing scandals. When word got around the PM would speak to his caucus Tuesday before…

An inadequate response to the Senate scandal

Ottawa Citizen — Stephen Harper had the opportunity Tuesday to quell the controversy surrounding the Senate and the Prime Minister’s Office. He didn’t take it. He made it worse. In a televised speech to the Conservative caucus, the Tory leader expressed his…

Why do Canadians keep rewarding Conservatives for their ethical breaches?

Adam Chapnick — It is hard to have much sympathy for the predicament that Conservatives find themselves in today. The party that claimed for years to be different from its Liberal predecessor in terms of its ethical fortitude has been exposed as just as vulnerable…