Harper has lost moral authority to govern, ex-PMO lawyer says

The former lawyer for the Prime Minister’s Office says Stephen Harper has lost the moral authority to govern, and he’s voting for change this election.

Benjamin Perrin says in a statement that based on what he’s personally seen and experienced, he felt there was no other choice but to abandon his lifelong Conservative vote.

Benjamin Perrin, ex-PMO lawyer, believed Harper OK'd details of plan to repay Duffy's expenses

A former legal adviser of the Prime Minister's Office wrapped up his testimony today, saying he believed Stephen Harper had directly approved the details of a plan by members of his staff to pay back Mike Duffy's living expenses.

Benjamin Perrin, who is testifying for a second day at the senator's trial in Ottawa, referred to an email in which Harper's then chief of staff Nigel Wright wrote "we are good to go from the PM."

RCMP court document mentions Benjamin Perrin’s name 24 times

PARLIAMENT HILL—An RCMP court document filed in an investigation of the $90,000 payment former PMO chief of staff Nigel Wright gave to Senator Mike Duffy contains 24 references to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former PMO legal counsel, Benjamin Perrin, dating from the time Mr. Wright began arranging a plan to end the controversy over Sen. Duffy’s expenses until it was completed.

Mr. Perrin’s participation in the scheme came to the fore this week after Prime Minister Harper’s office revealed last Sunday that Mr. Perrin’s email accounts, previously thought to have been deleted from Privy Council Office data systems after his temporary employment with Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) ended in March 2013, had been found in a separate cache where they were being held in relation to a court case over an unrelated issue Mr. Perrin had apparently been involved with while working for Mr. Harper.

Complaint filed against ex-PMO lawyer Benjamin Perrin over Wright-Duffy deal

A University of Ottawa law professor has filed a complaint against the prime minister’s former lawyer, who allegedly helped broker a secret deal between Nigel Wright and Sen. Mike Duffy, CTV News has learned.

Amir Attaran filed a complaint against Benjamin Perrin, who used to work in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Duffy’s lawyer Janice Payne with the law societies of British Columbia and Ontario.