Nigel Wright, lawyers face legal repercussions unless Harper knew about the Duffy deal, expert says

Way to leave your friend swinging in the wind there Harper. Just to avoid political embarrassment, Nigel Wright might be looking at 2 years in the slammer if Harper says nothing.

Harper knew. I think if these guys face prison or disbarment, they'll start singing. There are so many people involved here, including ones that won't be charged, it will be a lot of words against Harper's only one.

We'll have to see how much he's willing to do to hang on to power. Personally I would think more of him if he just fessed up - I think all parties do this sort of thing if in power. But it's a bit late now after all his denials, tho that seems to have worked for Rob Ford.

Nucky Harper politics

Really is starting to feel like Harper may have met his Adscam. May be time to step away for the good of the party and to protect whatever may be left of his legacy.

I can't see Harper going easily. He's wedded to this job, won't know what to do with himself if he goes. He's starting to remind me of Rob Ford, just with a different addiction.

What if Harper is actually telling the truth?

Both him and Wright say that PMO didn't know or order this payment.

Amp up the drama a little bit.

This is a big deal in political circles but is a mere blip on the radar for Mr. & Mrs. Canada.

Yeah, I'd agree with that. Even if it turns out Harper did know.

There's a long time to go before the eleciton. The Conservative plan is to role out a balanced budget and then introduce some tax cuts. If that plan works, nobody is going to get too much mileage out of this scandal.

What if Harper is actually telling the truth?

Both him and Wright say that PMO didn't know or order this payment.

There is always the possibility of that. But given how much of a control freak Harper is, I'm not giving good odds.

Even if Harper knew about it, there is no crime. If Harper didn't, then it's a crime. I think everyone now will see that it's Harper's call how it plays out - does he stick to the story and throw Wright under a bus, or does he take a political hit and perhaps earn some peer respect?

Duffy isn't a government official or employee, and giving a loan isn't a commission or reward. It also isn't giving of a benefit.

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The law is to prevent bribes by people wanting favors out of the government. Not for giving money to repay unjustified expense claims in a timely manner.


It's not a crime, and this isn't a scandal outside of the minds of the those that don't like the current government.

This just in: The Senate is no longer a part of the Government of Canada. {In Xort's world anyway}

stuff like St. Elsewhere occurs in those types of worlds..... as do Final Solutions that succeed

Actually he has a point - I heard to there are legal opinions that the law doesn't apply to Duffy. The RCMP obviously think differently, so maybe it will play out in court.

That doesn't do Harper any good - he still comes off looking either incompetent or like a scum.

Their is a difference between a government official or a representative of the government, and the parliamentary body that directs the government.

Are you ignorant of the differences between the political portion of the government and the bureaucratic?

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The whole case is stupid.

While in the military a guy I knew was given more money for his moving allowance than he should have got, he didn't know that he was given the incorrect amount and when all the paper work was done he was left owning a few thousand dollars. The military was willing to take it off his pay but that would require even more paper work to establish just what amount of money he needed to cover his cost of living so that they didn't take too much. This also would have generated some extra paper work so that his pay could have been diverted which would have brought the CoC into the picture. Or he could pay back the whole sum at once.

I loaned him the money that he needed, and was paid back over a few months.

By the logic of the news report I'm guilty of a violation of Section 121(1)(b).


If you had read the news report you would know that the RCMP were just asking if this part of the law applied. The only indication that that RCMP believe that the law applies is the slant of the writer. For which the bias is rather clear when you look around the page and come across this little gem:

'to pay off Mike Duffy and cover up his bogus expense claims.'

The honest writing would be, 'to give Mike Duffy the money needed to pay off his bogus expense claims'.

Also 'plots hatched' is also dripping with bias. 'Plans made', would be a better way to describe what happened.