PM Harper Persists Having No Role in Senate Scandal

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper was persistent in defending himself on Friday amid a series of dangerous questions targeting his potential involvement in an arrangement for his former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, to pay off Sen. Mike Duffy’s ineligible expense claims from party funds.

A short while after helping to open a new stretch of highway in Winnipeg, Harper stated that “for those who are concerned about the Senate scandal, I only need to point out that it was this party, the Conservative Party, who required for the first time transparency on Senate expenses.” He added that “and [it is] only this party, the Conservative Party, that has sanctioned those who have not respected the rules.” The Prime Minister only entertained few selected reporters’ questions before leaving the stage and disclosing any real information about the scandal that continues to dominate politics in Ottawa.

The RCMP has recently mentioned in a sworn affidavit earlier in the week that it suspects Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, of having had checked with the prime minister before finalizing a deal to pay Duffy’s ineligible expense claims from the Conservative Fund when it were calculated to be around $32,000. Excerpt from an email addressed by Wright on Feb. 22 stated that “I do want to speak to the PM before everything is considered final,” to which he replied an hour later by writing “we are good to go from the PM.” However, the Prime Minister Harper has stressed that the “good to go” implied that he agreed on Mr. Duffy repaying his own expenses, not having the party pay for them.