OTTAWA — Liberal senators tried a new tactic Thursday to get to the bottom of allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office interfered in an independent audit of Mike Duffy’s expenses.
James Cowan, Liberal leader in the Senate, asked Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella to rule that the interference, on its face, constitutes a breach of senators’ privileges.
Kinsella reserved judgment.
If Kinsella determines there was a breach of privilege, the matter would be referred to a Senate committee for further study.
That could give Liberals another opportunity to try to call two key witnesses alleged to have been involved in the audit interference: Conservative Sen. Irving Gerstein and Deloitte managing partner Michael Runia.
Two previous Liberal attempts to get Runia to testify at the Senate’s internal economy committee were defeated by the Conservatives, who hold a majority in the upper house.
And Gerstein ruled out of order Wednesday a Liberal attempt to have him step aside as chairman of the Senate banking committee until he’s cleared by the RCMP or agrees to testify at internal economy about his role in the matter.
Cowan said he was forced to raise a question of privilege on the matter because “all other reasonable avenues of redress have been blocked.”
According to witness statements and emails obtained by the RCMP and filed in court, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, enlisted Gerstein’s help in concocting a deal in which Duffy would repay $90,000 in questionable living expense claims.
Duffy agreed to the deal on condition that he would be reimbursed the full amount, that a Senate report on his conduct would not be critical of him and that there would be no question about his eligibility to sit as a senator from Prince Edward Island, although he lived primarily in Ottawa.
Gerstein, who heads the Conservative party’s fundraising arm, initially agreed that the party would reimburse Duffy — when the tab was thought to be $32,000 — but balked when it became clear it was more than $90,000. Wright eventually reimbursed Duffy out of his own pocket.
At Wright’s behest, Gerstein also talked to Runia, who audits the Conservative party’s books, to ensure the audit would make no finding as to whether Duffy’s primary residence was in Ottawa or P.E.I. — which it did not.
“Why should the chief of staff to the prime minister be sending emails discussing the desired outcome of an independent audit ordered by the Senate? If this is not evidence of interference, I don’t know what would be,” Cowan told the Senate.