Mike Duffy-Friends in High Places

[Mb-MBR]

This can't be ethical, can it????


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/can...207548701.html

[Ryry4]

Originally Posted by Mb-MBR

This can't be ethical, can it????


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/can...207548701.html

I've helped more than one friend out financially.

It'll be ethical or unethical, it just depends on how it gets spined.

[Zip]

No matter how this one turns out,it just seems that no matter who in our gov't gets audited there is greed and misspent funds..the only good news is that at least some of them are being caught at it and having to repay..the bad news is that they are never dealt with properly..they shud be fired and or taken to court for all the stolen money they have managed to take,and would have continued to take had they not been caught..jail time works for me! That is my opinion on all the scandel that has been brought to lightm.my guess is there will be more of this as we get more vocal about where our dollars end up!

[Fish along]

I wonder if I could get a few bucks from him,90,000,would be ok .

[CanuckShooter]

It's also unethical, if not illegal, for him to accept a $90,000 gift. This is a huge scandal.....

[260 Rem]

I stopped posting in "politcal" threads a few months ago...but, stuff like this is hard to bear in silence. About the only influence that seems to work is in the voting booth. I have supported the Cons both Federally and Provincially .. now... probably not.

[Kanonfodder]

Actually it's not its a gift from someone who was a long time friend

[Ryry4]

Originally Posted by CanuckShooter

It's also unethical, if not illegal, for him to accept a $90,000 gift. This is a huge scandal.....

How is it illegal to accept a gift of cash? Regardless of the sum.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Ryry4

How is it illegal to accept a gift of cash? Regardless of the sum.

The Senate's conflict of interest code explicitly prohibits senators from accepting any gift that "could reasonably be considered to relate to the senator's position." The Senate ethics officer refused to comment on the matter Wednesday, despite the fact gifts are supposed to be publicly disclosed.

Huh............ the public discloser part must have slipped everyone's mind.

[CanuckShooter]

Originally Posted by Ryry4

How is it illegal to accept a gift of cash? Regardless of the sum.

It's not for you or me...but we are not members of the Canadian Senate....supposedly above influence peddling...accepting bribes...you get the idea??

[TomCanuck]

The optics are very bad. It might end up costing Duffy his seat. Beyond that, probably nothing. As scandals go, this one is small taters.

[rugatika]

Clearly the Conservatives are one of the most honest gov's we've had in a long time.

When the media is focussing on small potatoes crap like this you know they're clean. If this was the libs or dippers it wouldn't even rate a mention.

[CanuckShooter]

He should retire and let one of us nice guys have his seat.....

[hal53]

Originally Posted by CanuckShooter

He should retire and let one of us nice guys have his seat.....

yup, like you're the guy that says it's OK to trespass, "just bring cash"..... or bring on the pipeline..."just bring cash"....waitaminit!!!!..you'd make a great Dipper Senator!!!!!!!...good luck in your quest....

[riden]

If this did actually cross ethical guidelines, it could have been done a whole lot more discretely than this and we would know nothing about it. Wright could have easily given the cash to Duffy with nobody the wiser.

I think this is getting twisted a little.

That said, I am frm PEI and didn't know Duffy was from PEI until his appointment. He was a poor choice, but...............not a lot of Con choices on PEI either.

[CanuckShooter]

Originally Posted by hal53

yup, like you're the guy that says it's OK to trespass, "just bring cash"..... or bring on the pipeline..."just bring cash"....waitaminit!!!!..you'd make a great Dipper Senator!!!!!!!...good luck in your quest....

You know the old saying?? "Ass, grass or cash....nobody rides for free",

[CanuckShooter]

Originally Posted by rugatika

Clearly the Conservatives are one of the most honest gov's we've had in a long time.

When the media is focussing on small potatoes crap like this you know they're clean. If this was the libs or dippers it wouldn't even rate a mention.

You jest?? Crooked senators rigging expense accounts to stuff their pockets is small potatoes??

[Kanonfodder]

So someone from the Conservative PMs office gives a Conservative Senator a gift to pay a ill advised expense that wasn't kosher. How does members of the same party exert influence on someone he's already friends and quasi colleagues with?

[BeeGuy]

Originally Posted by rugatika

Clearly the Conservatives are one of the most honest gov's we've had in a long time.

When the media is focussing on small potatoes crap like this you know they're clean. If this was the libs or dippers it wouldn't even rate a mention.

terminal velocity on your slippery slope boss

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by 260 Rem

I stopped posting in "politcal" threads a few months ago...but, stuff like this is hard to bear in silence. About the only influence that seems to work is in the voting booth. I have supported the Cons both Federally and Provincially .. now... probably not.

There is only one party in Canada... the party of the rich...

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by rugatika

Clearly the Conservatives are one of the most honest gov's we've had in a long time.

When the media is focussing on small potatoes crap like this you know they're clean. If this was the libs or dippers it wouldn't even rate a mention.

Clearly.

That said the bar wasn't set very high and they sure didn't clear it by much.

3.1 Billion lost
Fun and games during the election.
A couple of sneaky deals with the US that have cost us some privacy
They've hammered labour every chance they get.
Changed election funding rules to basically favour corporate sponsors over voters.
Have consistently tried to control the national news service.
Have allowed a foreign criminal to live here quite openly.
Had a minister that cheated on campaign funding.
They prorogued parliament a couple times and now...
Fired anyone that didn’t tow the party line… namely scientists.
Flip flopping just as badly as any of the rest.
In every instance where it comes down to money or the environment… the environment loses.
This latest scandal.

Yup... possibly more honest by comparison but honest isn’t a word that I would use to describe them.

[rugatika]

I agree with you Pesky, every gov is going to have some bad apples sucking up to the trough, but when the media is digging for all they're worth on these guys, and this is what they come up with, it's pretty easy to say the cons are leaps and bounds ahead of the last crew we had.

This seems to be a problem with individuals in the party, whereas the last go around it was a problem with the Liberal party itself.

I won't get into the whole anthropogenic global warming thing, but suffice it to say, there's a reason it's popularity is waning. It was/is a hoax.

[rwm1273]

Originally Posted by TomCanuck

The optics are very bad. It might end up costing Duffy his seat. Beyond that, probably nothing. As scandals go, this one is small taters.

He is a senator. If he was elected, I could see him losing a seat, but not an appointed senator. We have had soooo many senators who never spent a day in the senate after being sworn in, and they never lost their seat. Only death seems to end their time in the senate. And Duffy is still young enough to be a waste of time for years to come.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/insi...in-theory.html

UPDATED: Can a senator be removed from office? Yes, in theory.
by Kady O'Malley Posted: February 7, 2013 1:19 PM Last Updated: February 7, 2013 2:20 PM
For a slightly longer, if not entirely illuminating answer to what has suddenly become a surprisingly frequently asked question -- let's turn the floor over to the Constitution Act:

31. The Place of a Senator shall become vacant in any of the following Cases:

(1) If for Two consecutive Sessions of the Parliament he fails to give his Attendance in the Senate;
(2) If he takes an Oath or makes a Declaration or Acknowledgment of Allegiance, Obedience, or Adherence to a Foreign Power, or does an Act whereby he becomes a Subject or Citizen, or entitled to the Rights or Privileges of a Subject or Citizen, of a Foreign Power;
(3) If he is adjudged Bankrupt or Insolvent, or applies for the Benefit of any Law relating to Insolvent Debtors, or becomes a public Defaulter;
(4) If he is attainted of Treason or convicted of Felony or of any infamous Crime;
(5) If he ceases to be qualified in respect of Property or of Residence; provided, that a Senator shall not be deemed to have ceased to be qualified in respect of Residence by reason only of his residing at the Seat of the Government of Canada while holding an Office under that Government requiring his Presence there.

And who shall decide if such a situation has arisen? Why, the senate itself, of course:

33. If any Question arises respecting the Qualification of a Senator or a Vacancy in the Senate the same shall be heard and determined by the Senate.


As far as I know, no Senate seat has ever been declared vacant against the wishes of its occupant, but I'm still checking.

UPDATE: Helpful and erudite twitterversian Glenford Jameson points out that the Rules of the Senate lay out the procedure for ordering a leave of absence or suspension against a senator, including in cases in which a senator is charged with a criminal offence to be prosecuted by indictment, or, indeed, a conviction that results in any sentence other than discharge.

Ultimately, however, a declaration of vacancy can only be decided by the Senate as per S 33, as cited above.

[CanuckShooter]

Read all about it....appears to be some corruption being uncovered....it will be interesting to see how long they try to protect him?? The booted Brazeau in a big hurry...;-)


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...g.html?cmp=rss

Duffy claimed Senate expenses while election campaigning

He was also listed as being on Senate business at an "other location" on another six days. Using cellphone records, Deloitte managed to catch one inappropriate "other location" claim from 2012 while Duffy was in Florida.

[TomCanuck]

Don't know, RWM, Duffy seems to be a team player, he might resign if he sees himself as a liability to his party. The media is working this for all it's worth and more. In the nd, this is about the conduct of a few individuals. Compare it to Ontario's gas plant scandal that cost the taxpayers there around half a billion, yet the media does not seem overly concerned.

Yet some claim the Tories are trying to control the national news media. If that's the case, they are abysmal failures in the endeavor.

[Okotokian]

This definitely needs to be investigated. If he got a $90,000 bank loan to repay the money then fine. If there was a gift I think it's pretty clearly offside. Whether it was from a "friend" or not makes absolutely no difference.

Sure makes you wonder about whaot sort of "journalistic integrity" Mike had as a reporter. You don't just suddenly lose all your ethics upon entering politics.

I support Harper and the Conservatives (I almost wrote "Cons"... ooops) but he's gotta start swinging the axe on a few members and put in place more openness and transparency.

[Mb-MBR]

A wrong should be a wrong and it shouldn't matter who's in power. Each party runs on campaign promises to be better then the last party and very seldom do they follow through. I was really hoping the PCs would scrap the Senate as they stated or at the very least make it and elected body and not a place to insert your political patronage appointments. Both the Libs and the Cons are guilty of this, so just trying to outdo each other at the publics expense!!!

There should be no debate, no political lines when it comes matters like this. Of course innocent till proven guilty should still apply but Duffy's hole is getting deeper by the hour.

Guess if they do remove him, there's another one waiting in the wings to fill his spot, so whats the use.....

[gilbertslake]

Originally Posted by Mb-MBR

A wrong should be a wrong and it shouldn't matter who's in power. Each party runs on campaign promises to be better then the last party and very seldom do they follow through. I was really hoping the PCs would scrap the Senate as they stated or at the very least make it and elected body and not a place to insert your political patronage appointments. Both the Libs and the Cons are guilty of this, so just trying to outdo each other at the publics expense!!!

There should be no debate, no political lines when it comes matters like this. Of course innocent till proven guilty should still apply but Duffy's hole is getting deeper by the hour.

Guess if they do remove him, there's another one waiting in the wings to fill his spot, so whats the use.....

I cannot believe that the PM had no knowledge of his chief of staff "gifting" this money to Mike Puffy. Surely with something like this the Prime Minister needs to be in the loop, if not it belittles the role of the PM.

Just how much of a friend to Mike Puffy is Nigel Wright, that he can hand over $90,000 and not want it repaid? It would be interesting to see if Mr Wright's bank account is mysteriously topped up to the tune of $90,000.

Something is just not sounding right with this story. But, like a lot of these things there is likely no paper trail and no one wanting to tell the truth for fear of retribution.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by gilbertslake

I cannot believe that the PM had no knowledge of his chief of staff "gifting" this money to Mike Puffy. Surely with something like this the Prime Minister needs to be in the loop, if not it belittles the role of the PM.

If an aide did something with that much political consequence and didn't let the boss know, that's clear cause for firing in my eyes. Harper should send him down the road. If he doesn't, then we know he knew.... Just can't believe Harper's that stupid.

[sjd]

Some pretty big partisans on this site that are willing to turn a blind eye at this because he's a Harper appointee. If this was a liberal we'd be baying for his blood.

He's got to go. Should be removed if he doesn't resign immediately.

I don't care about your political stripe this is pretty low.