Daily Duff
A day in the life of R. vs. Duffy
If Donald Bayne’s defence of Mike Duffy seems a bit overzealous at times, it’s probably because misfiled Senate expenses are rather pedestrian compared with the charges his clients usually face. Namely, spousal stabbings, terrorism, synagogue bombings and Nazi war crimes. To clear his name and fulfil his vow to take down the Conservatives who allegedly betrayed him, Duffy can consider himself lucky to have obtained one of Ottawa’s most well-known criminal defence lawyers. Bayne has participated in the high-profile inquiries for Maher Arar and the 1993 Somalia Affair. Way back when, he also had an articling student by the name of Dalton McGuinty. A contemplative painting of Bayne hangs in Ottawa’s Von’s Bistro, for some reason, and his name is also notably similar to Donalbain, a character in another great epic of power and ambition, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Outside the courtroom, Bayne has been championing Duffy as the victim of a Conservative coverup ever since 2013. Inside court, his lust for details is largely to blame for turning the Duffy trial into a never-ending show of technicalities, definition and long-windedness. “Your sentences are just too long,” witness Nicole Proulx, a Senate officer, told Bayne in the midst of a Tuesday grilling. The former Queen’s University quarterback has also acquired a reputation for browbeating Senate witnesses, whom he has accused of singling out Duffy. Judge Charles Vaillancourt has asked him to tone down his “enthusiasm” during a particularly standoffish cross examination, and Proulx on Tuesday complained that she wasn’t the one “on trial.” But while other Duffy trial participants may find the 69-yearold lawyer somewhat annoying, Bayne appears to be having the time of his life. He is energetic when all around are sleepy, engaged while others fight the urge to daydream. While news cameras are always capturing a tired, stoic Duffy as he enters court, they persistently seem to catch a smiling Bayne bounding to work with a spring in his step.