Crown prosecutors tried to poke holes in Senator Mike Duffy’s testimony on his first day of cross-examination in an Ottawa courtroom on Wednesday. Testimony became testy, at times, as Duffy answered questions pertaining to his broadcasting career, interactions with former prime minister Stephen Harper and his expense claims.
Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery.
Hard-working broadcaster
Under questioning from the Crown on his career in television broadcasting, Duffy said he wasn’t hired for his “teeth and hair,” but because he was a hard worker.
CTV’s Katie Simpson reported from the courtroom that Duffy became angry on the stand when asked whether he lobbied for a senate position.
Duffy vehemently denied previous media reports suggesting he asked for the appointment, saying that would be crass and he wasn’t brought up that way. He also said he never aspired to be a senator, and was approached 20 years ago, but turned it down because it was not financially viable.
Harper was rude: Duffy
Crown lawyer Mark Holmes also took a closer look at Duffy’s interactions with Stephen Harper, questioning some events and meetings leading up to his appointment as a senator.
On the stand, Duffy appeared to become agitated by the line of questioning, at one point turning to the judge and asking him whether he had to answer.
Under questioning, Duffy said he thought, on many occasions, that Harper was rude.
Simpson reported that Duffy became heated when describing an occasion when Harper was travelling in Prince Edward Island, and a group of seniors he was scheduled to meet were made to wait an hour, with no seating.
Duffy said when he went to investigate the delay, he was offended to see Harper was sitting, eating in his undershirt, while a female staffer ironed his shirt.
Later, when the Crown suggested Duffy had done little on the stand to hide his apparent disdain for Harper, Duffy replied that it wasn’t disdain, but disappointment in the former prime minister.
Duffy added that he trusted Harper, and wouldn’t have agreed to help expand the Conservatives’ pool of accessible voters if he didn’t think he was honourable.
Expense claims
On Wednesday, the Crown asked Duffy why he began filing living expense claims after his 2009 appointment to the senate, despite residing in the same suburban Ottawa home he’d already been living in for seven years.
“The proposition is this: far from incurring additional expenses after you were appointed to the Senate, your expenses associated with going to work actually went down considerably?" Holmes asked Duffy.
The senator replied: I’m a senator from P.E.I., I live in P.E.I., and I followed the rules.
“Mr. Holmes, I did not break the rules, let alone the law,” Duffy said.
The Crown also hammered away at Duffy’s previous claims that he didn’t believe in per diems. Duffy acknowledged that he claimed for every meal he ate in his Ottawa home, but said he was simply following the rules.
In terms of claiming expenses, Duffy says he was no different from any other out-of-towner on Parliament Hill.
His understanding of the rules, Duffy said, was that Ottawa MPs such as former cabinet minister John Baird didn’t qualify for compensation for travel, adding Baird “lived at home and went to work.”
He, on the other hand, “lived in P.E.I. and commuted” to work, the senator said.
Duffy declared in court that he moved to P.E.I. in December 2008, when he got a new driver’s license.
Health problems
Duffy says the real reason he wanted to be a senator from Ontario was to reduce his travelling and the toll on his health. Duffy said he didn’t mention it originally, because he was trying to retain “a shred” of dignity and privacy.
Date mixups
As the Crown questioned the specifics of various events and meetings with Harper prior to his senate appointment, Duffy said that he may have confused some dates.
However, at one point, the senator also accused prosecutor Mark Holmes of putting words in his mouth and trying to trick him.
With files from CTV’s Katie Simpson and The Canadian Press
