National Newswatch

PM’s former legal adviser arranged deal for Wright to give Duffy $90K

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former special counsel and legal advisor worked on the legal deal between Nigel Wright and Sen. Mike Duffy’s lawyer that called for Wright to help Duffy pay off $90,000 in invalid expense claims, CTV News has learned.

Senator Duffy tells media to ‘stay tuned’

Senator Mike Duffy arrived back in Ottawa Monday afternoon amid questions about his future in the Red Chamber.

Crockatt says ‘ethical’ tweet was misunderstood

Calgary-Centre MP Joan Crockatt said Monday afternoon that her tweet lauding the Conservative Party’s ethics in the aftermath of the Senate expense scandal was “misunderstood.”

NDP asks RCMP to investigate Senate expense scandal involving Wright

The NDP is calling on the RCMP to launch an investigation into a $90,000 cheque former chief of staff Nigel Wright wrote to Sen. Mike Duffy.

At least 51 killed as tornado tears through Oklahoma, leaving miles of debris

A monster tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs and killed at least 51 people Monday, pulverizing block after block of homes, tearing the walls off an elementary school and leaving behind miles of mangled cars and splintered wood.

Harper expected to speak to Tory caucus Tuesday in wake of Senate scandal

Conservatives gathered Monday night to mourn the passing of a key architect in their rise to power — and to brace for the toughest test Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has faced since taking office on a promise to clean up politics in the national capital.

As Senate scandal deepens, what to expect from Ottawa this week?

After a dramatic week in Canadian politics that resulted in Prime Minister Stephan Harper losing two senators from his caucus and the resignation of his chief of staff, many wonder how the political shrapnel from this latest scandal will affect the Conservative government.

Duffy scandal has smeared entire Senate, Baker says

A Liberal Senator from central Newfoundland wants all expense claims from all MPs and Senators to be open to public scrutiny, in light of the widening scandal about Mike Duffy’s expenses.

Abortion debate looms for Prime Minister Stephen Harper

As he grapples with a growing scandal over Senate expenses, Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces another potential flashpoint as the House of Commons resumes sitting: The political debate over abortion is far from over.

2015 Federal Election: For Harper, Trudeau and Mulcair, The Campaign Is Underway

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives will reach the midway mark of their governing mandate later this summer. When Canadian politics crests that hill, it starts rolling quicker and quicker towards the next election.

Tory senator says it’s time for some colleagues to go

After watching the Senate expense scandal deepen over the last week, Senator Vern White spoke out Sunday, saying his colleagues in the red chamber need to understand with greater clarity that, “Loyalty can’t be more important than integrity.”

Can the Senate fire a senator?

An expert on parliamentary rules says the Senate has the power to turf a senator from the chamber, as long as a majority approves the expulsion.

Behind the job-rigging at ACOA

Two of Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s political aides had their civil service appointments revoked last fall when the hiring process was found to be rigged.

Harper under pressure as Duffy scandal claims his chief of staff

Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces growing pressure to order an independent probe into the spending scandal that has cost him a high-profile senator and now his right-hand man.

The Mike Duffy bomb sends more political shrapnel through Conservatives

Tim Harper — Mike Duffy is radioactive. The one-time Conservative cheerleader is now the poster boy for the filth which envelops the party brand. The man holed up on Friendly Lane in Cavendish, P.E.I., has brought down one of the most powerful men in Canada…

How Mike Duffy lost his way

Dan Leger — I’m almost ashamed to admit this now, but I once considered Mike Duffy a friend. Not the kind of friend you’d share your innermost hopes and dreams with. But a work friend and fellow Maritimer, someone I saw almost every day when we were both reporters on Parliament Hill.

The loss of Nigel Wright is also Canada’s loss

Michael Taube — It has been a tumultuous political week for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Tories. Yet it’s fair to say the resignation of his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, is probably the biggest blow for the PM, his government — and the country.

Wright’s fall raises questions Harper has to answer

Lawrence Martin — The correct decision has been made. Whether Stephen Harper demanded chief of staff Nigel Wright’s resignation, or whether Wright himself made the call, it had to happen. Wright was tainted goods. When you take the kind of credibility hit he did over…

In Tories’ hour of need, PM must go his own way

John Ibbitson — At one of the most difficult moments since he became Prime Minister, Stephen Harper is alone. He must rejuvenate a listless governing agenda while dousing a major political fire. He must rebuild his cabinet and craft what may be the most…

With Nigel Wright gone, Stephen Harper faces even more questions

Michael Den Tandt — Did Prime Minister Stephen Harper have foreknowledge of a backroom deal between his now former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, and Sen. Mike Duffy, in which the latter’s $90,172 tab for improper housing expenses would be made to go away?

(Prime) ministerial responsibility and all that … surely the wrong man has quit!

David Climenhaga — Surely the wrong man has quit! Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, resigned yesterday in the imbroglio that followed the revelation he gave disgraced Senator Mike Duffy $90,172 to pay back the Parliamentary…

Wright resigns. Stephen Harper, and questions, remain

Paul Wells — The doctoring of a Senate internal economy committee report to erase some references to Mike Duffy’s conduct was perfectly consistent with Stephen Harper’s long-standing preference for making questions go away rather than answering them.

What is it about journalists and expenses?

Jan Wong — t was a dark and stormy night. I was in the VIP cloakroom of the Canadian Opera Company after a biblical and bloody performance of Salome, the Richard Strauss opera directed by Atom Egoyan. I’m no VIP, but my friend in Toronto is a longtime donor.

The real problem with the Senate

Andrew Potter — Milton Friedman liked to say that the problem with socialism is socialism, while the problem with capitalism is capitalists. What he meant, more or less, was that while the free market was a fundamentally sound system that got a bad name from the crooked…

Duffy scandal tarnishes Senate

Lorne Gunter — What bothers me most about the Mike Duffy scandal is not the apparent payment of the embattled senator’s debts by the prime minister’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright. That’s dumb and smelly and may be in violation of the Senate’s ethics code…

Clark, Dix, and chicken entrails

Monte Solberg — As B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix might have said last Tuesday night, “I want to thank Canada’s pollsters for the honour of naming me as British Columbia newest premier. Good night and may the gods of the lakes and trees, especially the Ogopogo, bless you.”