And senators weren’t very happy about how the incident was handled, Duffy’s personal documents also indicate.
The story is just part of the evidence tabled in the suspended senator’s fraud trial that is shedding fascinating light on Duffy’s daily life, his dealings with the Prime Minister’s Office and Conservative MPs, and – from his earliest days in the Senate – his problems with expense claims.
Duffy kept a detailed calendar, part diary, of his daily activities during his time in the Senate, covering everything from his meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and staff in the PMO, to the senator’s health issues, to charging for appearance fees while a senator, and even the earliest news reports in the Ottawa Citizen about his expense claims.
MacKay was on the defensive in late 2011 over internal department emails suggesting he used a search-and-rescue helicopter in July 2010 for personal reasons to fly out of a private fishing lodge in Newfoundland and Labrador — not to participate in a military demonstration, as he had told Parliament.
Then Defence minister, MacKay eventually flew from Newfoundland to London, Ont. for a government announcement.
According to entries in Duffy’s personal calendar, MacKay told him he believed that Dimitri Soudas, former director of communications to Harper, leaked the unflattering story about the chopper ride to the media. The conversation between MacKay and Duffy happened during or after a national Conservative caucus meeting on May 9, 2012, according to the Duffy calendar entry.
The entries, some of which were blacked out by a marker but still legible, also indicate that senators were outraged by how the PMO and MacKay handled the story.
“Peter MacKay tells MD (Mike Duffy) Dimitri Soudas ordered him to fly out of Nfld to do photo op – then leaked the helicopter story to the media,” reads one entry in Duffy’s diary (it which also mentions that Harper “doesn’t like Conrad Black”).
A calendar entry about a week earlier, on May 1, notes that the helicopter story came up at the Conservative Senate caucus meeting and Tory senators were unhappy with government’s handling of the matter.
“7 or 8 Sens express anger at PMO’s media & comms strategy. (Newfoundland Senator) Fabian Manning and others enraged by Peter MacKay’s handling of search and rescue,” says the May 1, 2012 entry.
Duffy’s diary also explains, in great detail, how much the PMO, senior Conservative ministers and backbench MPs relied on him at rallies, fundraising events and teleconference town halls to help the party and government.
He logged a note on April 2, 2011, at the start of the election campaign, about an email from senior Harper aide, and now the prime minister’s chief of staff, Ray Novak.
“Is MD (Duffy) available for events wityh (sic) the PM?” says the diary entry.
A few days later, another calendar entry says: “MD joins PMSH (Harper) on campaign bus” for stops in the Toronto area.
Duffy also made various notes about dinners and cocktail receptions at 24 Sussex Drive, the home of the prime minister.
In the last few days of the 2011 campaign, Duffy was called upon to moderate teleconference town halls with now-Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and MP Paul Calandra, now the parliamentary secretary to Harper.
The 231 pages of Duffy’s calendar items between 2009 and 2012 are on top of hundreds of pages of detailed receipts that show Duffy was filing Senate expense claims for travel before he was even officially sworn in to the upper chamber. He also failed to keep original receipts of his expenses on his very first trip to Charlottetown in his capacity as a senator.
Harper named Duffy to the Senate on Dec. 22, 2008; he was sworn in as a senator for Prince Edward Island in January 2009. Nevertheless, Duffy claimed expenses for flights from Ottawa to Charlottetown from Dec. 29, 2008, to Jan. 4, 2009, for his “first travel to region as senator.”
Even from his first trip, Duffy failed to properly file his expenses, according to documents filed in court.
“First travel as Senator – did not know to keep original receipts,” says a note on the travel expense claim.
In May 2009, about four months after taking his seat in the upper chamber, a calendar note says “Senate finance demands proof of (Duffy’s) lunch” with then-B.C. premier Gordon Campbell.
Duffy’s calendar also indicates he was pocketing thousands of dollars in personal speaking fees while he was a senator. Various calendar entries from 2011 and 2012 indicate he received “$5k” and “$10k” from speaking engagements to various groups.
An entry from Dec. 5, 2012, indicates Duffy missed a caucus meeting while he was at a paid speaking engagement. The entry came a day after his calendar notes “Ottawa Citizen front-page story on (Duffy) housing allowance” and one day before another entry on Dec. 6 about “Ottawa Citizen front-page story — Glenn Macgregor (sic) on (Duffy) speaking fees.”
Duffy noted in his calendar on Nov. 16, 2012, a “Transfer $25K dividend from MDMS (Mike Duffy Media Services) to MD’s personal acct.”
The suspended senator also logged, in great detail, his personal affairs outside politics, including visits to doctors and the emergency department for various health issues, regular dinners from Ottawa restaurants Swiss Chalet and Baton Rouge, movie nights with his wife Heather, purchasing snow tires at Costco and attending funerals.
A Feb. 15, 2012, calendar entry, blacked out but still legible, notes that Harper appeared to be offside with his caucus on changes to MP “allowances,” although it doesn’t explain whether it referred to the eventual changes forcing MPs to contribute more to their pensions, or if cuts to salary were possibly being considered.
Other entries from that month also highlighted concerns about the robocalls vote-suppression affair. A note from Feb. 25, 2012, indicates Harper’s then-communications director, Angelo Persichilli, called Duffy for help on dealing with the Robocalls fallout.
“Angelo calls re MD assist with media on Robocalls,” says the diary entry. The next day, Duffy held a teleconference with Conservative party political operative Fred DeLorey about “Media on Robo Calls,” says a note.
Original Article
Source: canada.com/
Author: JASON FEKETE
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