Mr. Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) communications director confirmed to The Hill Times Thursday morning that Conflict of Interest Commissioner Mary Dawson has begun inquiring into the affair directly with Mr. Harper’s office, and most likely chief of staff Nigel Wright, after CTV disclosed on Wednesday that Mr. Wright wrote a personal cheque for more than $90,000 to Sen. Duffy the money after negotiations last February, before a Deloitte audit on his expense claims and ineligible expense claims by Senator Patrick Brazeau and Senator Mac Harb, was released.
All of the ineligibly claimed expenses were related to questions over the principal residences they claimed outside of the National Capital Region, which qualified them for at least $22,000 a year each for living expenses while in Ottawa attending to Senate business.
“Our office is engaged with the Office of the Ethics Commissioner on the matter,” Mr. MacDougall told The Hill Times in an email.
Federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson, in charge of the inquiry, is responsible for ensure compliance with the Conflict of Interest Code and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders, including cabinet ministers and public office holders such as Mr. Wright, but not Senators.
Mr. MacDougall, however, also confirmed Thursday morning that the transfer of cash to Sen. Duffy was not a loan. This could put Sen. Duffy in violation of the Senate Conflict of Interest Code that has strict limits to any gifts a Senator may accept, and also a requirement that gifts must be reported on a public declaration within 60 days of their receipt.
“There was never any expectation that the money would be repaid,” Mr. MacDougall told The Hill Times.
Mr. Duffy has not amended his public declaration of interests and gifts since Dec. 3, 2012, and, according to the only public record of the latest time he could have obtained the money from Mr. Wright, March 25, 2013, when he passed it on to the Senate as repayment for ineligible expenses he claimed by listing his Prince Edward Island cottage as his principal residence, means Sen. Duffy has, at the latest, until next Friday, May 24, to declare the money.
The Senate Conflict of Interest Code prohibits Senators from accepting gifts related to their position, other than courtesy or normal hospitality tokens. Gifts from friends and family would be allowed but the Senate ethics office says "a gift or benefit that is provided to a influence a Senator in the performance of his or her official duties could reasonably be considered to relate to a senator's position" and therefore be prohibited.
Although the Senate has demanded repayment of at least $34,619 in expenses from Sen. Brazeau, a former member of the Conservative Senate caucus, and at least $43,056 in repayments from Senator Mac Harb, who resigned from the Liberal caucus after the Deloitte report, the Senate accepted a voluntary repayment of $90,172 from Mr. Duffy, which essentially relieved him of a requirement to repay money following the Deloitte report.
A statement from the Conservative-dominated Senate Committee of Internal Economy, which retained Deloitte for the outside review, was more lenient on Senator Duffy than on Sen. Harb and Sen. Brazeau.
Meanwhile, Senate Ethics Officer Louise Dalphy said she could not comment on any specific individual Senator or whether there is a review of Sen. Duffy’s case.
However, Ms. Dalphy said all Senators are required to update their files if any major changes occur.
“Even after all Senators’ confidential disclosure statements have been filed and all Senators’ public disclosure summaries are available to the public, the annual disclosure process is an ongoing process that continues throughout the year,” Ms. Dalphy said in an email to The Hill Times.
“Senators are required to ensure that their confidential disclosure statements are kept up-to-date throughout the year by filing material change forms with my office within 60 days of any changes occurring in their circumstances,” she said.
“These material change forms are included within each Senator’s disclosure file if the information contained therein is required to be made public under section 31 of the Code,” Ms. Dalphy said.
The section she referred to includes gifts among the items Senators must include in updated public disclosures.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: TIM NAUMETZ
No comments:
Post a Comment