Crash of ‘The Mechanic’: Oil Sands Flogger Bruce Carson Found Guilty

Bruce Carson, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2009, has been convicted on three different counts of illegal lobbying.

Carson broke the law while pushing Harper’s fossil fuels friendly agenda from two perches. One was an oil lobby group, and the other was a federally funded think tank at the University of Calgary billed as a clean energy research centre before Carson helped bend it to oil sands advocacy.

Canada's Biggest Political Scandal You Never Heard Of

It's probably the biggest political scandal you've never heard of.

The tale involves Big Oil, millions of taxpayer dollars, call girls and someone the RCMP describes as "one of the prime minister's longest serving advisors": Bruce Carson.

And it largely took place at Stephen Harper's alma mater: the University of Calgary between 2009 and 2011 with a cast of industry CEOs as well as several Harper ministers and aides, including Nigel Wright.

More grief for Harper: ex-advisor Bruce Carson back in court Monday

As if Stephen Harper needed more embarrassment in the middle of a tough election campaign, Monday will see the start of another criminal trial of a former member of his inner circle: Bruce Carson, once his senior adviser.

News from the trial may be another distraction keeping the Conservative leader from sticking to his platform points, just as questions about Senator Mike Duffy’s criminal trial knocked him off-message during the first few weeks of the campaign.

Why was Bruce Carson able to lobby for oil and gas right under the PMO's nose?

The only time I met Bruce Carson — who was once an acting chief of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) — he asked me to take down a blog I had written.

The 2011 post focused on how Carson had shifted from handling the energy file in the PMO to acting as the political quarterback for a joint government-oil industry push to get pipelines built.

Taxpayer-funded Bruce Carson school spent $1.3 million on salaries, travel, office in 2011

OTTAWA — A federally-funded research partnership that actively promoted oil and gas companies reported spending more than $1.3 million on salaries, office expenses and travel in 2011, coinciding with the departure of its executive director who is now in the middle of an ethics and lobbying controversy.

Bruce Carson, a former adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, headed the Alberta-based Canada School of Energy and Environment that promoted research collaborations between three universities in the province until he was prompted to leave because of unrelated allegations of inappropriate lobbying of the government on behalf of a company promoting water treatment technology and services.

Ex-Tory adviser charged with fraud Latest in saga of Harper's former aide Carson

OTTAWA -- The dizzying fall, resurrection and steep descent anew of Bruce Carson -- from convicted felon to close adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- took another turn Friday with word he'd been charged with influence peddling by the RCMP.

The Mounties issued a brief news release Friday that offered few details, other than Carson is alleged to have accepted a commission for a third party in connection with a business matter relating to the government.

The RCMP investigation began in March 2011 amid the superheated atmosphere of pre-election Ottawa when the PMO contacted police with allegations Carson had illegally lobbied the federal government on behalf of a company that employed his girlfriend.

Ex-Harper aide Bruce Carson charged with influence peddling

Bruce Carson has been charged with one count of influence peddling following an investigation by the RCMP.

The 66-year-old former top adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper with a history of fraud convictions had been facing accusations of alleged influence-peddling and illegal lobbying after it was alleged that he told Ottawa-based water purification company H20 Pros that he could use his connections to arrange deals with First Nations communities.

In a news release issued Friday, the RCMP's A Division said Carson is "alleged to have accepted a government commission for a third party in connection with a business matter relating to the government."

RCMP’s Bruce Carson investigation probes contract with former escort, Calgary think-tank emails

Armed with thousands of emails written by Bruce Carson, the RCMP has stepped up its investigation into the activities of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former confidante, APTN National News has learned.

Investigators with the RCMP’s Commercial Crime Unit are actively probing the activities of the former political operative nicknamed “The Mechanic” regarding his dealings with federal Aboriginal Affairs officials, his relationship with an Ottawa-based water company and the role played by Carson’s fiancée, a former escort who went by the name of Leanna VIP.

Investigators already hold thousands of emails written by Carson along with documents on his laptop computer from his time as head of the Canada School of Energy and Environment, a $15 million think-tank created by the Conservative government. The emails would reveal the extent of the electronic networking world of a man who professed links to highest levels of federal political power and Alberta’s energy titans.

Carson, a former adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office, is under investigation for alleged illegal lobbying and influence peddling by three different agencies, including the RCMP, the Lobbying Commissioner and the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

None of those investigations have reached their conclusions.

Ex-PMO Aide Carson Left Calgary School With Debt

CBC News has learned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former senior adviser, Bruce Carson, charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses to the federally funded think-tank he headed for just over two years.

Robert Turner, a prominent Edmonton lawyer and chairman of the Canada School of Energy and Environment's board of directors, says that in one month alone Carson charged almost $28,000 in personal expenses to the school's corporate credit card, which is supposed to be used only for business.

In an exclusive interview with CBC News, Turner said the board has simply written off about $15,000 of taxpayers' money that Carson spent on personal travel and other expenses during his last month on the job.

The school — a think-tank set up at the University of Calgary with a $15-million federal grant — withheld another $13,000 it owed Carson when he left under a cloud of controversy in March.

Turner is the first prominent insider to reveal what went on behind the scenes when the Carson scandal engulfed Stephen Harper's government on the eve of this year's federal election.

Carson is already under investigation for possible influence-peddling and illegal lobbying last year in a failed attempt to land federal contracts for a shady company employing his then girlfriend, a former escort.

Opposition flips ethics watchdog’s appearance back on Conservatives

At least five public office holders, including Industry Minister Christian Paradis and Bruce Carson, a former aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, are currently under investigation for possibly breaching the government’s ethics rules, says Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay could soon join that number should her office receive a complaint about his visit to a fishing camp owned by a Newfoundland businessman, Dawson suggested.

However, Dawson was tight lipped about the three mystery investigations she has self-initiated. The investigations are relate to possible infractions of the Conflict of Interest Act which applies to 2,800 public office holders which includes ministers, parliamentary secretaries, minister staff and full time employees named through governor in council appointments such as deputy ministers, heads of crown corporations and members of federal boards.

While the individuals under investigation have been notified, Dawson and her officials refused to say who is under a cloud of suspicion or to even say how many individuals are involved in each of the self-initiated investigations.