Canada PM unaware party was to repay expenses in scandal -ex-aide

After a 7 week break the expenses trial of embattled Senator Mike Duffy has resumed in Ottawa.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it dovetailed with what the prime minister has been saying for years: that Harper was never aware of a plan for either the Conservative party or Wright himself to pay back Duffy’s impugned expense claims.

Beforehand disclosed RCMP paperwork confirmed Wright had informed his employees the prime minister was “good to go” on a reimbursement scheme that included no request for forgiveness from Duffy – a press release that had many critics alleging the prime minister should have recognized particulars of Duffy’s reimbursement plan. Nigel Wright, chief of staff for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. I couldn’t think of another way of doing it. “My intention was to secure the repayment of taxpayer funds”, the former chief of staff said in a statement at the time.

Suspended Sen. Mike Duffy attends his trial in Ottawa, Thursday, June 4, 2015 in this artist’s sketch.

“If, in fact, foreign speculators are driving the cost of housing to unaffordable levels”, Harper said, “that is something the government can, and should, find a way to address”. One thing Wright told Duffy he would do in exchange for his repaying the living expenses was to have a “senior government source” tell media his qualification to sit as a senator for P.E.I. was not in doubt.

A drawn-out set of talks ensued involving Wright, Duffy, PMO lawyer Benjamin Perrin, Duffy’s lawyer and strategists and communications staff.

Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges in connection with his Senate office, living and travel expenses. After the party rejected the plan, Wright said he felt obligated to make the payment. “I believed that my actions were always in the public interest and lawful”.

“I said to Mr. Duffy he should repay those expenses”.

Neubauer also pressed for details on an email that Wright sent following discussions with the prime minister that indicated he was “good to go” from Harper.

“You cannot justify claiming expenses you did not actually incur, regardless of what the rules were”.

Wright told the court he had made a significant error by misjudging how the check would be interpreted.

Wright testified that he told Harper it is his “common sense understanding” that Duffy “hung his hat in Kanata”.

Testifying in the afternoon, Wright responded to a question from Crown prosecutor Jason Neubauer about whether he told Harper of his intention to personally pay the $90,000, by replying, “No”.

Harper appointed Duffy as a senator from Prince Edward Island, despite Duffy’s having lived and worked in Ottawa since the 1970s.

Harper said his government would devote up to $500,000 a year to obtain the necessary statistics on non-resident investors buying condominiums and houses across the country, as well as how many of those are occupied and how many left vacant.

But Gerstein, chairman of the party’s financial wing, balked at the final price tag of $90,000 in expenses plus Duffy’s legal costs.

May 8, 2013: A meeting with people from the Prime Minister’s Office, Conservative senators and staff discusses the altering of a committee report on Duffy’s residency and expenses.