Duffy hired cousin as P.E.I. ‘eyes and ears’
Senator sent family, friends random cheques, judge hears
OTTAWA— Senator Mike Duffy used his first cousin David McCabe as his “eyes and ears” on Prince Edward Island, sending him an unsolicited $500 cheque for keeping him abreast of family news and P.E.I. issues, Duffy’s fraud trial heard Monday.
The trial of the suspended senator, now in its third week, has heard it is against Senate rules to hire family members.
Yet, like several others who received surprise cheques for helping out Duffy, McCabe agreed with Duffy’s lawyer, Don Bayne, that the money was payment for “real work” done.
Another witness on Monday also testified he advised Duffy on issues of island interest, saying he was paid $8,400 over three years for his advice, but not always through formal Senate contracts. Peter McQuaid, a gas station owner and former chief of staff to former Progressive Conservative premier Pat Binns, said he and Duffy agreed he’d provide consulting advice and did “very sporadic” work for him, including vetting some Duffy speeches that were “over the top” in their partisan zeal.
Testifying via video conference from Charlottetown, a slightly nervous but still proud McCabe said his mother and Duffy’s mother were sisters. After McCabe learned in 2008 to use a computer to scan newspaper articles and photos, while Duffy was still a journalist, he sent news about family gatherings or sports achievements of “my daughters, my broth- er’s daughters, and my sister’s daughters and sons.” He continued to do so after the CTV television host was named to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in January 2009.
“Plus any political stuff that was happening,” McCabe said, adding he would forward comments from newspapers “as long as it was favourable . . . towards Mike or the province.” However, McCabe did not know why he received a cheque dated May 25, 2010, for $500 from a company he’d never heard of, Maple Ridge Media, signed by G. Donohue.
Duffy told him “it was for all the scanning and articles that I emailed him,” he testified.
The RCMP alleges the company, owned by a former CTV colleague of Duffy’s, Gerald Donohue, was used by Duffy to direct payments for services that otherwise would not have been approved under Senate rules.
The suspended senator has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery connected to alleged misspending of Senate resources. Duffy paid for makeup service, photo reprints and frames, gave $500 to a volunteer intern in his office, and paid $500 to former press gallery friend Mark Bourrie for ad- vice on dealing with unfavourable Internet comments.
But in the case of Bourrie, Duffy’s trial came to an odd halt Monday as the judge expressed skepticism about Bourrie’s claims regarding the Duffy-Internet-bashing comments he consulted on, and Bayne’s characterization of them — a serious issue that raises a question about Bourrie’s credibility as a witness. Bayne had suggested the examples Bourrie brought to court were too “scurrilous” to be admitted into evidence, but Judge Charles Vaillancourt said he read the material over the weekend that “was said by Mr. Bayne to demonstrate the vile assertions that were in public domain. After reviewing the material I did not find that on its face it supported the contention that it was dripping with evil that Mr. Bayne suggests.”
Bayne admitted he had not fully read the material beforehand and hadn’t been aware of its content. That led Vaillancourt to reconsider his decision to admit the evidence and give the prosecution another go at Bourrie, a witness the Crown admitted was “more helpful to the defence.”
For now, the dispute has been set aside until transcripts are ordered and Bayne reviews the material.