Boiling point
Tory supporter clashes with reporter while hecklers disrupt journalists asking Harper about Duffy case
OTTAWA— Stephen Harper’s press conference was disrupted on Tuesday when some supporters lashed out at reporters, with one exchange growing so heated a man had to be escorted away afterward.
A few supporters at the campaign stop in the Etobicoke-Centre riding took to shouting down reporters’ questions to the Conservative leader, apparently angry that they kept asking questions about Sen. Mike Duffy’s criminal trial.
The Conservative campaign is giving journalists a daily allotment of five questions for Harper, and the reporters were using a few of them to ask about the Duffy trial, where Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, has been on the stand since last week.
One heckler demanded the journalists ask about the issue Harper had come to Etobicoke to talk about: the Tories’ proposed “life-means-life” legislation, which they will make their public-safety priority if they’re re-elected.
Another shouted to the journalists that they should ask questions about seniors.
Harper, meanwhile, tried to quiet down the supporters and deal with the questions.
“Duffy made a bit of cheating on his tax return, and you’re turning it into an issue.” “I believe that you cheat more on your taxes than Duffy ever did . . . because you’re a lying piece of s---” UNIDENTIFIED MAN TO REPORTER AT TORY CAMPAIGN EVENT
Outside the event, one man who refused to identify himself, called a reporter a “lying piece of s--t” and accused her of cheating on her taxes.
“Duffy made a bit of cheating on his tax return, and you’re turning it into an issue,” the man yelled in footage posted online by CBC. “It’s not a deal; it’s a nothing. Harper doesn’t read income tax forms, you idiot! It’s done by the people in the tax department.”
It’s not clear how the man got the idea that the Senate spending scandal has anything to do with income tax or the Canada Revenue Agency. As security quickly escorted him away, he directed reporters to “stuff” themselves.
Kory Tenycke, a spokesman for the Conservative campaign, apologized for the incident and said supporters at future events would be reminded of appropriate decorum.
News outlets pay $12,500 a week, plus hotel and meal expenses, to cover the Conservative campaign. They are transported by the campaign to Harper’s events and are permitted to ask a few questions of their choosing each day.
For the past week, the questions have largely focused on the Duffy trial. Wright, who cut a personal $90,000 cheque to cover Duffy’s disputed housing expenses, has been testifying since last Wednesday.
Emails released as evidence in that trial show that senior members of Harper’s office, including Wright’s replacement, Ray Novak, were looped in on many of the conversations about how to handle Duffy’s circumstances.
Novak continues to play a role on the Conservative campaign, as does Marjory LeBreton, a retired senator who co-ordinated the Duffy issue with the Prime Minister’s Office.
Harper has repeatedly said he holds two people accountable for the $90,000 repayment issue: Wright and Duffy. He has deflected questions about the emails as they were released publicly and on Tuesday said he won’t comment on specifics now before the court.
The opposition NDP have asked the RCMP to revisit the possibility of charges for Wright, as well as investigating Novak and other members of the PMO involved in the discussions.
Harper was in Etobicoke to promote the government’s proposed “life-means-life” legislation. The legislation, introduced in March by former justice minister Peter MacKay, would eliminate the possibility of parole for offenders who commit premeditated murder during a sexual assault, terrorism, “high treason,” or “particularly brutal” circumstances.