Ottawa

Nigel Wright, Mike Duffy and the production order

Reading through the RCMP’s filing

The Globe, CTV and Star all reported last night on documents filed by the RCMP as part of an application for a production order. The headline revelation is that the Conservative Party was prepared to cover the repayment of Mike Duffy’s expenses when the tab was thought to be $32,000. Once it was discovered that the expenses in question totalled $90,000, it was decided that the Conservative Party wouldn’t cover it.

CTV has posted the document outlining supporting information for the RCMP’s application and those 28 pages are worth reading in their entirety.

Corporal Greg Horton points to two sections of the Criminal Code. In regards to the expenses Mr. Duffy claimed, Cpl. Horton invokes section 122.

122. Every official who, in connection with the duties of his office, commits fraud or a breach of trust is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, whether or not the fraud or breach of trust would be an offence if it were committed in relation to a private person.

In regards to the cheque Mr. Duffy accepted, Cpl. Horton refers to section 121(c).

121. (1) Every one commits an offence who … (c) being an official or employee of the government, directly or indirectly demands, accepts or offers or agrees to accept from a person who has dealings with the government a commission, reward, advantage or benefit of any kind for themselves or another person, unless they have the consent in writing of the head of the branch of government that employs them or of which they are an official;

Beginning at page 13, Cpl. Horton details an RCMP review of Mr. Duffy’s expense claims through 2011 and 2012.

Cpl. Horton’s interaction with Mr. Wright’s lawyers begins at page 17. There it is said the Conservative Party initially considered covering Mr. Duffy’s expenses and that Mr. Wright gave Mr. Duffy the money on the conditions that his debt be repaid immediately and that he stop speaking to the media about the issue. Mr. Wright identifies three people in the Prime Minister’s Office who he told about the payment: David Van Hemmen (the executive assistant to the chief of staff), Chris Woodcock (director, issues management) and Benjamin Perrin (formerly a legal advisor to the Prime Minister).

Mr. Van Hemmen and Mr. Woodcock seem to still be employed in the PMO. Mr. Perrin left the PMO in April. In May, CTV alleged that Mr. Perrin helped draft the letter of understanding between Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy. Mr. Perrin said that story was “false.” But he also said that he was “was not consulted on, and did not participate in, Nigel Wright’s decision to write a personal cheque to reimburse Senator Duffy’s expenses.”

At the time of this filing, the RCMP had not decided whether to interview Mr. Wright as a witness or suspect.

Beginning at the bottom of page 20, Cpl. Horton details an interview with Liberal Senator George Furey, a member of the steering committee for the Senate’s Internal Economy committee. On page 21, he details an interview with Conservative Senator Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, another member of that steering committee. On page 22, Cpl. Horton refers to a conversation with CTV’s Robert Fife. Cpl. Horton also refers to this interview with Conservative Senator David Tkachuk. In the summary, at page 23, Cpl. Horton gets into the matter of identifying Mr. Duffy’s primary residence.

None of this, of course, has been tested in court and nothing has been proven.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.