The Duffy affair: Checking in on our pizza store

So Conservative Senator Irving Gerstein tells the Conservative convention that he told Nigel Wright the party would not cover Mike Duffy’s disputed expenses, but, as the Star notes, that’s not the impression the RCMP attested to in June.

Of the legal expenses the party did cover, the Prime Minister’s Office says “the party was assured the invoice was for valid legal fees related to the audit process.”

Below, meanwhile, is CBC’s account of the affair from last week.

And here, from the weekend, is the Globe’s account.

Brent Rathgeber invokes ministerial responsibility to argue the onus is on the Prime Minister and Bruce Anderson tests Mr. Harper’s idea of how this would be handled if it were a matter of private enterprise.

When Mr. Harper muses that private sector codes of conduct should be the standard by which his government should proceed, this invites unflattering analysis. As bad as “staff” conduct appears, a diligent board of directors would by now critically examining the judgment exercised by management.

Mr. Harper is probably fortunate that politics doesn’t operate by business management standards. Because it’s far from clear whether a private company would enthusiastically back a leader who had made the choices the Prime Minister has been making for the last six months, in this affair. At the very least, they would demand better going forward.