Harper left on a four-day trade mission to South America, just hours after he delivered a televised speech to Tory MPs and senators on Parliament Hill.
Harper said he was “not happy” with the actions of some senators and with the conduct of his own office.
He promised to accelerate Senate reform, “uphold a culture of accountability” and not be sidelined by “distractions” that get in the way of his main priorities, such as job creation.
But the prime minister did not explain — or apologize for — the actions of his former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, who resigned Sunday over controversy from his decision to secretly give Sen. Mike Duffy a personal $90,000 cheque to repay his ineligible housing expenses.
Furthermore, the prime minister did not take questions before departing the country, and it fell to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to answer a volley of queries later in the day from opposition parties during question period.
One after another in the House of Commons, New Democrat and Liberal MP’s fired off questions to learn more about the secret payment between Wright and Duffy, who resigned from Tory caucus last week.
Among them: Why did Wright decide to do this favor for Duffy? Did the ruling Tories “whitewash” a Senate report on Duffy’s expenses so it would not be critical? What did Harper know about the deal and when did he know it? Is it true that Wright used Harper’s former special counsel and legal adviser, Benjamin Perrin, to draw up a letter of understanding with Duffy in February? Did Wright break the law by giving Duffy the money?
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair asked the government to bring in the RCMP to conduct an investigation, while other New Democrats urged the governing Tories to end a “cover-up.”
“Was taxpayers’ money used to bankroll Senategate?” asked Mulcair.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Harper had lost his “moral compass.”
“The prime minister’s right-hand man secretly paid a parliamentarian $90,000 to obstruct an audit,” said Trudeau in the Commons. “Canadians deserve better. They deserve actual transparency and accountability.”
Throughout question period, Baird recited the same answer:
“The government is being very clear that the prime minister was not aware of this payment until media reports surfaced last week.”
As well, despite media reports that a written agreement was prepared for the Wright-Duffy deal, Baird said it’s “our understanding there is no document.”
Reached at his home in Vancouver, Harper’s former legal adviser, Perrin, who left the PMO in April to return to a job at the University of British Columbia, declined a request for an interview.
Shortly afterwards, Perrin released a written statement, saying the CTV report which connected him to the deal is “false.”
“I was not consulted on, and did not participate in, Nigel Wright’s decision to write a personal cheque to reimburse Senator Duffy’s expenses,” said Perrin’s statement. “I have never communicated with the Prime Minister on this matter.”
Earlier in the day, Harper broke his silence on the scandal by delivering a nine-minute speech to caucus.
Harper repeated something from a 2005 speech, just before he won his first mandate:
“Anyone who wants to use public office for their own benefit should make other plans or, better yet, leave this room.”
Harper said no one in the room would be surprised to hear “that I am not happy.”
“I’m very upset with some conduct we have witnessed. Conduct of some parliamentarians and the conduct of my own office.”
Beyond that blunt remark, Harper did not specify which “parliamentarians” have angered him, nor did he mention Wright by name.
Harper’s office decided to briefly allow journalists into the closed-door meeting on Parliament Hill so they could record the prime minister’s remarks before they were told to leave. At the end of his speech, journalists shouted questions which were drowned out by a standing ovation of his caucus. The media was then ushered out of the room.
After the speech, Conservative MPs expressed satisfaction.
“I think we can all acknowledge that this is an unfortunate, unacceptable situation, and we have to have better rules in place,” said Treasury Board President Tony Clement.
He said that both the Senate and the prime minister’s office must abide by strong ethical standards.
“The prime minister gets it. He understands that point. He expressed it himself. He has exercised leadership. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear from him and I heard it today.”
Heritage Minister James Moore said he is pleased that Duffy is no longer part of the Conservative caucus, after having departed the group last week.
“The prime minister is taking responsibility, fulfilling his mandate to Canadians to protect the public purse.”
But NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said Harper is showing a “shocking” lack of accountability.
“Canadians want answers. He’s not giving them answers, Canadians are expecting leadership. He’s ducking, he’s diving.”
Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale said Harper “patently failed” to explain what happened in the scandal.
“That was fundamentally disrespectful of ordinary Canadians. They don’t get these special favours from Mr. Wright and the PMO, they have to face the music when they have financial problems to deal with,” said Goodale.
“This was damage control, this was change the channel, this was try to weasel out the back door. That will not wash, Canadians will not put up with this.”
In his speech, Harper insisted he is trying to do the right thing in politics.
Read the full text of his speech here.
“As Canadians know, I did not get into politics to defend the Senate,” said Harper.
“And it was this party that put Senate reform on the national agenda.”
The prime minister said that for years, his government has been blocked by opposition parties as it tried to reform the Upper Chamber by setting term limits and arranging for a form of elections.
The government has asked the Supreme Court for a ruling on whether its reforms can be implemented. Once that comes, he said, the government will press ahead rapidly.
He also said he supports plans for Sen. Marjory LeBreton, the government leader in the Upper Chamber, to “accelerate changes to the Senates rules on expenses and close any loopholes in those rules.”
Harper defended his government’s own record, reminding the caucus that the Tories brought in an Accountability Act that tightened up rules in a variety of areas — such as ethics, political party financing and lobbying.
“Canada now has one of the most accountable and transparent systems of governance in the entire world and this is something Canadians are rightly proud of.”
“It is also something, colleagues, that we can never take for granted. Just as we continue to toughen rules, we must also uphold a culture of accountability.”
Harper said his government has reduced budgets and travel expenses, and that it was the Tory caucus that “finally bit the bullet and reformed the MP pension plan so that we will pay our fair share.”
“I know that like me and my family, you are stringent about paying expenses of a personal nature yourselves.”
Still, he stressed that the government must focus on other issues.
“We have an active and important agenda. The issues that matter to hard-working Canadian families and there is much work to be done.”
“When distractions arise, as they inevitably will, we will deal with them firmly. But we cannot lose sight of our top priority. The world we are in remains a deeply uncertain place.”
“Canadians are looking to us to protect them. Their jobs, their families, their communities. That is what we must be focused on, and what we will continue to do.”
Original Article
Source: ottawacitizen.com
Author: Mark Kennedy & Michael Woods
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