Duffy auditors called back to Hill
Deloitte spokesperson denies ‘ethical wall breached’ during probe
Outside auditors who reviewed Sen. Mike Duffy’s expenses are expected to appear on Parliament Hill next Thursday, hauled before a Senate committee that has some pointed questions about the independence of their work.
The Senate committee that oversaw the Deloitte audit of Duffy’s housing expenses earlier this year wants answers about allegations in new court documents that a highprofile Conservative senator tried to influence the auditors’ work.
A spokesperson for Deloitte told Postmedia News that the auditors examining Duffy’s expenses built “an ethical wall to prevent the leakage of information.” Caitlin Stidwill went on to say that “at no time was the ethical wall breached” or information given to anyone who wasn’t entitled to see it. The decision to call representatives from Deloitte before the Senate committee came as the upper chamber tried to absorb the politically explosive allegations contained in a wide-ranging RCMP court document made public Wednesday.
It contains allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust over a $90,000 payment Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, made to Duffy to cover the repayment of the latter’s questionable housing claims.
At the time, Duffy was being audited over his expenses. According to the RCMP, Sen. Irving Gerstein, chairman of the Conservative Fund, contacted a senior partner at Deloitte, which audits the Conservative party, asking Deloitte partner Michael Runia what was going on with Duffy’s audit, and under what conditions auditors would drop the probe of Duffy’s spending.
The RCMP court document alleges Sen. Carolyn Stewart Olsen tried unsuccessfully to quash the audit in exchange for Duffy repaying his outstanding bill. Sen. David Tkachuk, then chairman of the internal economy committee, asked auditors if repayment would end their work. According to Tkachuk’s statements to police, the auditors didn’t answer his question.
Stewart Olsen, police allege, was in repeated contact with the PMO during the audit, including reviewing an early copy of the Deloitte audit and working out the wording of the final committee report, absent critical language of Duffy’s expenses.
Stewart Olsen was not in the Senate Thursday. Tkachuk told reporters outside the Senate that the committee was “very independent.”
Other senators, meanwhile were stunned at the RCMP allegations.
“I am a strong believer in the independence of the institution and I think it’s something that we’re all going to have reflect upon,” said Conservative Sen. Bob Runciman, a former attorney general for the province of Ontario.
Deputy Liberal Senate leader Joan Fraser called the allegations in the RCMP documents “very disturbing,” saying it would take some time for the Senate to determine “what the ultimate implications are.”
“There are contradictions between the testimony given by various people. There are indications that the Prime Minister’s Office was involved in the Senate process to a degree that I think none of us would have imagined,” she said.
The audit process added to what the RCMP documents describe as a “toxic atmosphere” within the Tory caucus, where anger was directed at Sen. Marjory LeBreton, then the government leader in the Senate, for how the situation was being handled, and at Duffy for his unwillingness to repay any money. In the documents filed by the RCMP, there is an email from Conservative Sen. Linda Frum expressing concern with the process, and suggesting Conservative senators were ready to accept forced resignations for Duffy and Sen. Pamela Wallin, whose expenses were also deemed to be inappropriate.
“I wanted the right people to be held account and not be sort of left on the plates of people who had nothing to do with it,” Frum told reporters outside the Senate Thursday.
“If they (Duffy and Wallin) had done the right thing and resigned and taken responsibility for their actions, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Meanwhile, NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said Deloitte needed to explain its work to Parliament not just on the Senate file but on other politically sensitive audits, such as on expenses at the beleaguered northern Ontario reserve of Attawapiskat. (In that case, auditors were critical of millions of dollars in federal funding for housing. The results were released just as Attawapiskat Chief Therese Spence was holding a hunger strike that fuelled the Idle No More protest movement.)
“There are a number of questions about what happened with (the Duffy) audit, and Canadians have a right to know who knew what, how did information get out, and were senior senators tipped off,” Angus said. Liberal MP David McGuinty said Deloitte should come forward immediately and explain what happened.
“I would be hard-pressed to believe Deloitte didn’t push back hard,” McGuinty said. “They should come immediately and declare what did or did not transpire here. For their own professional reputations.”