Senator Mike Duffy resigns from Conservative caucus over expenses scandal
Posted May 16, 2013 09:00:42 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – 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.
The imbroglio ensnared Stephen Harper’s highest-ranking adviser after it came to light that the prime minister’s chief of staff 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.
