From the magazine: Following the Duffinator

In the current issue of the magazine is this story, written with Manisha Krishnan, on the travels and adventures of Senator Mike Duffy. Nick Taylor-Vaisey has also mapped the senator’s stops over the last four and a half years.

Local newspapers were a wealth of information. Here, for instance, is Mr. Duffy in Peterborough. Here he is in Wendover. And here he is in Amherst.

Although both Duffy and Stoffer spent close to $130,000, the big difference is that one is an elected official and the other an unelected senator – but Duffy isn’t shy in saying that he tries to be a champion of the people who will use his celebrity to get things done. “You look at Holland College in P.E.I., they got $8.5 million this year,” said Duffy. “People say why do you travel? It’s because you need cards to play and chips to use.”

Duffy builds his chips up by traveling to MP’s ridings, meeting people, giving speeches and making friends. “So I’m going to ask the minister of science Gary Goodyear to look favourably upon Holland College. He has a zillion applications and I say, ‘gee Gary, would you take a personal interest. I think it has merit. Will you look at that and see what you can do,” said Duffy. “So when Holland College comes up they get $8.5 million. They’re going to build some new buildings, take down some substandard housing and rearrange things and do it in a way that will substantially change your impression of Charlottetown.”