Ex-aide to Canada PM says directed Senate how to handle scandal

By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's aides were so concerned about the fallout of an ethics
scandal involving a high-profile Conservative senator that they
took tight control of Senate actions to try to limit the damage,
a court heard on Friday.
Emails released during the third day of testimony by
Harper's former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, at the fraud and
bribery trial of Senator Mike Duffy showed Wright and other
aides directing actions in the Senate, the upper chamber of
Canada's Parliament, to try to quell an uproar in 2013 over
C$90,000 ($68,700) in dubious expense claims made by Duffy.
The Duffy case is becoming a major factor in the run-up to
Canada's Oct. 19 election as the governing Conservatives try to
extend a near 10-year term in office.
Duffy, a popular former TV journalist, was appointed to the
Senate by Harper, and the scandal over his expense claims has
been embarrassing to the Conservatives, who came to power in
2006 promising to clean up federal politics.
The Senate is dominated by Conservative members and they
showed few signs of resistance when pressed by Wright as the
Duffy crisis spread in early 2013.
The office of Conservative Senate leader Marjory LeBreton
came up with its own ideas on how to handle it, but an irritated
Wright told aides in an email that LeBreton's office should do
"nothing with our prior approval". He added: "We will not set
anything in motion without knowing where we want it to end up
and how we will make that happen."
Under questioning from Duffy's lawyer, Donald Bayne, Wright
said the "we" he had been referring to was Harper's office.
A few minutes later Bayne told Wright that Harper's office
effectively controlled the Senate leadership.
"I certainly did ask that office to coordinate and clear
with us before they took actions," Wright said.
Under pressure, Duffy eventually agreed to pay back the
expenses but did so only with a personal check that Wright
secretly gave him. Wright left his job in May 2013 when news of
the check leaked out.
Opposition parties say they find it hard to believe Harper's
protestations that he knew nothing about Wright's check, given
that several of the prime minister's top aides were in the loop.
In testimony on Monday, Wright said Harper did not know about
the plan to repay the expenses.
($1=$1.30 Canadian)