Speeches from senators facing suspension from Canada’s upper chamber the Senate have ignited more questions about how the ruling Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been dealing with accountability issues.
On Tuesday (October 22), Senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau, and then on Wednesday Senator Pamela Wallin outlined what they described as bullying tactics by the Prime Minister and government leaders in the Senate to have them admit guilt and leave the Senate.
In the House of Commons Question Period (before Wallin’s speech) Prime Minister dismissed charges by Senator Duffy, and opposition questions, saying that he was not aware of a cheque made by his chief of staff Nigel Wright to Senator Duffy to cover contested expenses by the Senator until after it became public in the news media.
From what the Senators said in their speeches, the PM and others were not interested in whether expenses were legally allowed or not, but were only concerned by the public perception of allegations against the senators.
RCI’s Wojtek Gwiazda has a report.
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