Another Tory hauled to court over campaign spending

Published November 7, 2013

Here we go again – more legal troubles for the Conservative Party over election spending. On Thursday, Elections Canada’s case against Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro chugged along with a date in a local courtroom. Del Mastro, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s point man in the House of Commons on all ethics matters until he himself […]

The wheels on the CPC bus go round and round

Published November 5, 2013

The Conservative bus just got a little less crowded. Three senators – appointed by Stephen Harper just a few years ago – now find themselves out on the pavement after the Conservative-dominated Senate voted Tuesday to suspend them from the upper chamber. Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau, tapped by Harper in December 2008 […]

Look, it’s a Senator/party bagman!

Published November 2, 2013

Is it possible the Conservative Party didn’t think this through? Enlisting a Conservative senator caught up in the current Senate scandal to stand on stage at the close of convention to deliver a report about party fundraising? The Senate scandal dogging the Conservative government has blown wide open one of the upper chamber’s dirty little […]

The “Old Duff” fundraising for the Conservative Party

Published October 31, 2013

The daily revelations coming out about Mike Duffy and the Senate scandal are riveting. They can distract, though, from the underlying problem with Canada’s upper chamber. One of the defining features of the modern Senate is that, for decades, the government of the day has appointed party fundraisers, organizers and former staffers, tapped to do […]

About that Senate residency thing…

Published October 30, 2013

The Conservative government tried a new argument Wednesday to try and contain the Senate scandal. Paul Calandra, the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary, stood up in the House of Commons to chide three of Harper’s Senate appointees for not knowing where they lived. Part of the spending scandal involving Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau […]

Who wants to stand in for the PM in QP?

Published October 29, 2013

Standing in for the Prime Minister during Question Period is considered a feather in a minister’s cap. But it can also come back to hurt you if you have to answer questions about the Senate scandal. That’s because the government’s story keeps changing. Check out how these three senior ministers fielded questions in the last […]