Senate scandal overshadows Conservative convention
OTTAWA — Canada’s Conservatives nervously gather in Calgary this week hoping Prime Minister Stephen Harper can successfully dodge an ethical scandal involving senators he appointed and then reclaim public trust with a visionary agenda for the future.
Two years after their last convention, shortly after winning a majority government, the party’s most fervent supporters — known as “the base” — now have less to cheer about.
Harper’s Tories have dropped about 10 points in public opinion, saw their recent throne speech widely panned for being vacuous and are having difficulty getting attention for their free-trade deal with the European Union.
Part their problem is the Senate expense scandal that has drawn public anger toward Harper and to the Conservative senators he appointed to be loyal foot soldiers in the upper chamber.
“I think the base is angry and embarrassed over that,” said Prof. David Taras, of Calgary’s Mount Royal University.
“I think the base needs to be convinced that these are the same people that they voted for just two years ago.”
The scandal has aroused public suspicion over whether Harper is telling the truth about his own involvement in the secret scheme in which his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, paid $90,000 of his own money to repay Sen. Mike Duffy’s housing expenses.
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel, co-chair of the convention, said there’s no doubt the focus on senators’ expenses is troubling to Conservatives.
“I’m not impressed with what’s going on and I don’t think the base is either.”