Much Ado About Mendacious Greed

"I simply stated publicly what is fact -- that Senator Duffy met the residency requirements to represent P.E.I. -- in that he met the requirements of the declaration of qualification that is signed under oath by all senators at the beginning of each (parliamentary) session. This declaration has nothing to do with the claiming of expenses."
former government Senate leader Marjory LeBreton

"I'm tired of denying things that never happened. I don't know how many times I can say it. I didn't threaten him.
"People have said a lot of things that are not true. I'm just telling you what I did. There was a problem, there was an issue, it was referred to an auditor, I gave him every opportunity to defend himself."
Senator David Tkachuk

"We've given all information to those authorities who are looking into this matter, and we've been very clear, if anybody doesn't respect the rules, they will be held accountable.
"Mr. Wright, by his own admission, is solely responsible for the decisions that he took. He has accepted full responsibility and my office has provided authorities with all available information."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

"The whole political decision-making about this has been a fiasco. Rather than letting the truth out -- that there are flaws in the Senate system and the rules -- it's the old story; the coverup is more damaging than the original issue.
"He had the good sense to ask and clear this with the Senate leader. He has not been for years surreptitiously trying to make inappropriate living allowance claims; he was cleared from Day one.
"It remained for the PMO, a liability. Sen. Duffy was told by the PMO that despite the truth of the matter, for political reasons, mainly because the Tory base -- the voting base -- would not like this, meaning the optics of the state of Senate rules governing principle-residence designation, he had to repay all four years of the living allowance claims that they already told him were perfectly valid. "Senator Duffy is not a wealthy man. Not only for that reason, he strongly objected to this. His objects were met with pressure and threats by the Prime Minister's Office.
"The threat is, if you don't go along with this, we'll kick you out of the Senate. That's the hammer. The threat seems obvious: You take the dive, or this subcommittee will throw you out on the residency issue before you've had any kind of a hearing, exactly what they're proposing to do now. No justification for it, contrary to everything they've said ... but as a political tactic."
Donald Bayne, lawyer for Senator Mike Duffy

There are some truths in the imbroglio that has overtaken the news media and the House of Commons. The first truth is that Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose unwisely when he elevated Mike Duffy, a  television news man and seemingly staunch conservative, to the Senate of Canada. He may have thought that his choice for the Senate appointment would work out well, but most certainly events of the last six months will have caused him to evaluate that decision as an utter failure and a sword of Damocles.

Another truth is that Mike Duffy is a sad and sorry specimen of a human being, seeking to enrich himself at the public purse. Forgivable if the generosity of his Senate appointment salary might have sufficed, unforgivable in that he sought to further fatten his wallet by the unfortunate expedient of unethical housing and expense claims. Not to mention casually disposing of $65,000 for the spurious hiring of a crony who provided no services whatever for that tidy little windfall.

And of course the claiming of his principal residence of a home in P.E.I. that he seldom occupied; a vacation home, if you will. And claiming living expenses for a "secondary" residence where he spent the majority of his time, a residence in the very city where he had lived for decades before his appointment to the Senate, which suddenly become a trifling and casual home-away-from home, netting him thousands in entitlements.

Mr. Duffy's bleating that he did nothing wrong rather misstates the situation. Under fuzzy Senate entitlement rules based on the belief that all the honourable members of the Senate would behave in an ethical, moral and honourable way in claiming such entitlements, Mr. Duffy felt himself to have earned additional tens of thousands of dollars because of his invaluable contribution to the furtherance of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Entitled to his entitlements in a manner that simply wouldn't pass the muster of public scrutiny. The series of unfortunate errors and misunderstandings were the result of an assistant who didn't know her administrative way around, and it was she who was responsible for victimizing the poor man through her having made claims for per diems for Florida vacation trips and Conservative fundraisers; certainly not the intentions of the man himself.

The Prime Minister of Canada is human, complementing his integrity and resolute ambition for Canada's well-being and that of his party. He is entitled to make some errors, and those he has made in elevating a few individuals to a political-authority status they appear to have misused to their personal advantage seems an error in retrospect. He is also rather taken up with running the affairs of the country. Which takes precedence?

Many voters appear to feel they made an excellent choice in placing their trust in Stephen Harper as Prime Minister of Canada. The elevation of this niggling little story of human greed coming up against uncertain rules and regulations to the status of overwhelming importance in the greater pursuit of the country's interests at home and abroad represents a media-inspired feeding frenzy.

Mr. Duffy has now taken it upon his injured sense of pride to state, with parliamentary immunity within the Senate, that the Prime Minister of Canada has lied repeatedly to avoid admitting an error, or a series of errors on his part. There are many who would prefer to continue believing in the astute intelligence and honesty of the Prime Minister as opposed to embracing the accusations bruited about by a man whom integrity appears to have passed by.