The Law Society of British Columbia is considering an investigation of Benjamin Perrin, former special counsel to the prime minister, for his alleged role in the deal to repay Mike Duffy鈥檚 expenses, 麻豆传媒 has learned.
Meanwhile, independent auditors tasked with probing Duffy鈥檚 expense claims have been recalled to answer to allegations of interference by the Conservative Senate leadership.
A sworn RCMP affidavit includes correspondence between staffers in the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office and Conservative senators about the Deloitte audit. An email trail suggests Perrin and Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton were involved in the deal that would see Duffy鈥檚 expenses eventually covered by Harper鈥檚 then-chief of staff Nigel Wright.
In a statement to 麻豆传媒, B.C.鈥檚 Law Society said it is 鈥渁ware of the information that has been reported in the news media. Anytime we learn of information that might be relevant to a lawyer鈥檚 behaviour, we will consider it.鈥�
Perrin is currently an associate professor at the University of British Columbia鈥檚 Faculty of Law.
The RCMP affidavit said Perrin鈥檚 emails from his time in the PMO have been deleted. In the affidavit, RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton alleges Wright broke the law by giving Duffy the $90,000 to cover his ineligible expenses.
Both Perrin and Hamilton had a legal obligation to inform the prime minister of any potential criminal wrongdoing, says criminal lawyer Michael Spratt.
Either they kept Harper in the dark, or 鈥渢he lawyers acted appropriately and ethically, which means the prime minister must know more than he has been saying he knew,鈥� Spratt told CTV.
None of the allegations contained in the affidavit have been tested or proven in court.
麻豆传媒 has also learned that the Senate鈥檚 internal economy committee met in secret Thursday and voted to recall the Deloitte auditors after the RCMP affidavit revealed that Sen. Irving Gerstein, chair of the Conservative Fund, allegedly used contacts at the firm, which also does work for the Conservative Party, to determine if the Duffy audit could be squashed.
On Mar. 21, according the affidavit, Gerstein contacted PMO staffer Patrick Rogers to say Deloitte refused his request to stop its audit into Duffy鈥檚 expenses.
鈥淚f we commission an independent firm to do work on our behalf, we expect it to be done independently,鈥� Sen. Gerald Comeau told CTV.
To a question about Gerstein鈥檚 alleged role, Comeau replied: 鈥淲e鈥檒l cross that bridge when we get to it.鈥�
In a statement to CTV, a spokesperson for Deloitte said that 鈥渢he Senate audit team established an ethical wall to prevent leakage of information and at no time was the ethical wall breached.鈥�
Harper sticks to story
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper continued to insist that the only plan he knew of to repay Duffy鈥檚 ineligible expenses was that the senator would be doing so with his own money, despite the new court document that suggests he at least knew of an initial plan to cover Duffy鈥檚 expenses with a cheque from the Conservative party.
The affidavit suggests Wright checked with the prime minister before finalizing a deal to pay Duffy鈥檚 ineligible expense claims from the Conservative Fund when they were believed to total about $32,000.
In a Feb. 22 email, Wright said: 鈥淚 do want to speak to the PM before everything is considered final.鈥� An hour later, Wright wrote: 鈥淲e are good to go from the PM.鈥�
When questioned about that email in the House of Commons Wednesday, Harper said 鈥済ood to go鈥� meant 鈥済ood to go with Mr. Duffy repaying his own expenses.鈥�
On Thursday, Harper stuck with that line when questioned by reporters during a press conference in Lac-Megantic, Que., where he was announcing funding for clean-up efforts following the deadly train crash earlier this year.
A reporter asked Harper when he knew that the Conservative Party was planning to cover Duffy鈥檚 expenses, and he replied that he believed Duffy 鈥渟hould repay his own expenses.
鈥淚 was told that that was what he had agreed to do, I was told that is what he had done, and when I learned that was not the case I took the appropriate action. Mr. Wright as you know who made the secret payment to Mr. Duffy has not been in my employment for six months. Mr. Duffy has been sanctioned severely, removed from the payroll by the Senate of Canada.鈥�
The opposition picked up the point in question period Thursday, although it was the prime minister鈥檚 Parliamentary Secretary Paul Calandra who was tasked with providing the answers.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair noted that on May 28, he asked Harper in the House about what instructions he gave his staff regarding the Duffy affair.
鈥淵ou know what he said? I鈥檒l quote him word for word: 鈥業 did not give any such instructions,鈥欌�欌�� Mulcair said.
鈥淵esterday鈥檚 court documents prove that those words are the opposite of the truth. Not only did Nigel Wright get instruction from the prime minster, he even got approval: 鈥榃e鈥檙e good to go.鈥欌��
Mulcair accused the prime minister of a cover-up, and asked: 鈥淲hy the cover-up if he didn鈥檛 do anything wrong?鈥�
鈥淭he documentation says no such thing,鈥� Calandra replied.
鈥淲hat it says is the prime minister, at the moment he found out about this, he went into his office and instructed his office to co-operate fully with the RCMP. As I have said on a number of occasions in this House, on Feb. 13 Sen. Duffy approached the prime minister to justify his inappropriate expenses. The prime minister told him he had to repay those expenses鈥he documentation also shows that the prime minister did not know about this, and as the prime minister said had he known about this scheme he would have in no way endorsed such a scheme.鈥�
In Quebec, Harper was asked a follow-up question about why he is keeping Gerstein and Chris Woodcock, a former PMO staffer who now works for the Natural Resources minister, who documents suggest both knew of the original plan, 鈥渙n your team?鈥�
Harper did not reply directly to the question about Gerstein and Woodcock, saying only that 鈥渢he inappropriate actions here were taken by Mr. Wright at his own initiative, and obviously Mr. Duffy deliberately lied to the public about those things.
鈥淚t is Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy who are under investigation and who are being held responsible for their actions, and that is what is appropriate in this case. And as I say, we will continue to assist to ensure that all the necessary steps are taken to deal with this particular incident, which should not have occurred, and make sure those who are responsible are held responsible and that it will not be repeated.鈥�
In question period, Mulcair asked why Wright is the only PMO staffer to have lost his job, and Calandra replied that the court documents 鈥渃learly show that it鈥檚 Sen. Duffy and Nigel Wright who are the subject of this investigation.鈥�
