Ex-top aide to former Canadian PM Harper found guilty

A one-time top aide to former prime minister Stephen Harper was convicted of criminal influence-peddling by Ontario’s highest court on Friday. In overturning a previous acquittal against Bruce Carson, the Court of Appeal said in a split decision that the case should go back to the trial judge for sentencing. Carson, a senior adviser to Harper from the time the Conservatives took office in 2006 until 2008 and briefly in 2009, was charged in connection with attempts to promote the sale of water-purification systems for First Nations communities by a company known as H2O Pros and H2O Global. H2O had hired his former girlfriend, Michele McPherson, with whom he developed a romantic relationship in February 2010.