Payments can be explained
Mike Duffy’s defence counterattacks on senator’s various contracts
Mike Duffy’s circuitous payments to a volunteer, to a makeup artist, to a photo print shop and to a friend who delivered research reports orally can all be logically explained, a judge was told Tuesday.
Duffy’s defence lawyer, Don Bayne, used his cross-examination of a Senate official to make the case that the office money the now-suspended senator spent all fell within the upper chamber’s broad — and sometimes confusing — rules and procedures.
The former Conservative faces 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, including a set that involve $65,000 in contracts set up through the company of Ottawa friend Gerald Donohue.
Donohue, a former local TV executive, was said to have done research and consulting work for Duffy, including advising him on issues involving the aging population.
But Donohue’s firm didn’t do all the work under that $65,000. He sent cheques to other service providers, outside the scrutiny of Senate administrators. Among them was an office volunteer who received $500, a photo developing store that produced $1,578 of materials and a makeup artist who prepared Duffy for an event with the prime minister.
Bayne took Senate human resources officer Sonia Makhlouf through some of the myriad guidelines, orientation pages, reports and rules that govern how senators are supposed to run their offices and conduct their business.
Since the trial began last week, Bayne has argued that Duffy abided by the rules on the books and, if anything, is guilty of administrative process errors and nothing criminal.
Here are some of the explanations, derived from the testimony:
• An Orientation Guide for New Senators and office expense guidelines provide a broad definition of research, with no spe- cific limitations on what that entailed. Thus Donohue’s verbal advice to Duffy is argued to be legitimate.
“The research work that is delivered to you, it doesn’t have to be a written product, does it? It might be advice about regional issues, it might be advice on what you’re working on as a sen- ator, if it’s advice given?’’ Bayne asked Makhlouf. “Yes,’’ she responded. • Volunteer Ashley Bain falls under the description of staff within the Senate’s administrative rules. Another section underlines a senator is entitled to hire and pay staff.
• Photographic and publicity services are legitimate office expenses (albeit not described under service contracts) under the guidelines for senators’ research and office expenses.
• Senators have the prerogative to change the personnel they select for the contract, without having to get approval, under a key Senate report passed in 1988. Bayne referred to this apparently to bolster the argument that subpayments were above board.
Bayne also highlighted that the Senate itself had found that its network of rules and procedures could be hard to navigate. A 2010 Senate committee report on internal audits pointed out there were 12 documents for the processing and administration of office expenditures.
“There is a risk of inconsistent application of policies and understanding of the policies across senators’ offices,’’ the report said.
Said Bayne: “The senators are not, coming from a wide variety of backgrounds, they’re not the experts on the rules, right?’’
“Yes,’’ answered Makhlouf.