Conservative senator quits caucus over housing expenses
Posted May 16, 2013 5:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – Conservative Senator Mike Duffy has resigned from the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent amid a furious controversy over his expense claims.
Only a week ago, the Conservative government was hailing Duffy’s leadership for repaying the $90,000 in housing allowances the Senate said he owed.
Now a government official says there are a growing number of questions about Duffy’s conduct that don’t have answers.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper‘s chief of staff became involved in the controversy after it came to light that Nigel Wright wrote a personal cheque to Duffy to cover the bill.
The gesture was described as a gift from a friend, but the payment raised a host of new questions about the ethics of giving a senator such a large sum and whether the payment was meant to put a lid on the affair.
After Duffy paid the $90,000 in March, he stopped participating in an independent audit of his expense.
