Former aide to Canada PM goes on trial, adding to scandal

By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A former aide to Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper went on trial for influence-peddling on
Monday, adding to the scandal that has helped undermine the
ruling Conservatives ahead of an October election.
Bruce Carson, who worked as a policy advisor from 2006 to
2008, is charged with improperly lobbying the federal Indian
Affairs ministry in 2010 and 2011 over the proposed sale of a
water filtration system to an aboriginal group.
Former officials are not allowed to lobby Ottawa for five
years after leaving government. Carson had not registered as a
lobbyist.
Prosecutor Jason Nicol told an Ontario Superior Court in
Ottawa that Carson assured the firm trying to sell the equipment
that he could get the deal done.
In e-mails, Carson talked about setting up meetings with two
former aboriginal affairs ministers as well as senior officials.
"There is no question: if Mr Carson did not have actual
influence he certainly pretended he did so," Nicol said.
Carson is the latest in a string of Harper appointees to end
up in legal trouble, a fact that opposition politicians are
eager to exploit.
"The trial of Bruce Carson will serve to underscore yet
again that Mr Harper has had very poor judgment about the people
he gathers around him. He has opened the doors of the prime
minister's office to a tremendous number of somewhat less than
scrupulous characters," said Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.
Carson, who pleaded not guilty, says he was not acting for
any one company in particular but was interested in improving
the poor conditions that many aboriginals have to endure.
"There is a far clearer motive ... Mr Carson was clearly
advocating and lobbying on behalf" of the firm, said Nicol.
The two-day trial will address one of the four charges
Carson faces in connection to the alleged offenses.
Last month the fraud and bribery trial of Senator Mike
Duffy, a Harper appointee, heard the prime minister's office had
concocted a false story in a bid to cover up a scandal over
Duffy's expenses.
In an radio interview broadcast on Monday, Harper said
although the opposition were citing a "list of names of people
who have done something wrong", he had acted quickly to oust
anyone suspected of offenses.
The Duffy affair has cut into the popularity of the
Conservatives, who are trying to win a rare fourth consecutive
term in power.