IN THEIR WORDS

Quotes from Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt in his decision that saw Sen. Mike Duffy cleared on all 31 counts.

Was Nigel Wright actually ordering senior members of the Senate around as if they were mere pawns on a chess board? Were those same senior members of the Senate meekly acquiescing to Mr. Wright’s orders? Were those same senior members of the Senate robotically marching to recite their scripted lines? Mind boggling and shocking. — ON CONDUCT BY HARPER AIDES The precision and planning of this exercise would make any military commander cry. In the context of a democratic society, the plotting revealed in the emails can only be described as unacceptable. If anyone was under the impression that this organization was a benign group of bureaucrats taking care of the day-to-day tasks associated with the Prime Minister, they would be mistaken. — ON PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE THE STEPHEN HARPER UNDER Could Hollywood match their creativity? It is interesting that no one suggested doing the legal thing. — COMMENTING ON HARPER’S STAFF I was not presented with evidence suggesting expensive wining and dining, lavish living or pricey gambling junkets, or secret financial hideaways. Now, fraud and breach of trust can occur outside the aforementioned examples; however, the thrust of all of Sen. Duffy’s perceived misadventures was focused on Senate business. (Duffy) honestly and reasonably believed and relied on the advice he received regarding his appointment and his primary residence, and he acted upon it. The Canadian Press, with files from Postmedia News