Mike Duffy#Criminal charges

Mike Duffy was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to Lillian and Wilfrid Duffy. He is a grandson of Charles Gavan Duffy, a PEI Liberal MLA and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.{{cite web|url=http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/king-of-the-hill/|title=Must-read #longreads: Senator Mike Duffy, king of the Hill - Macleans.ca|date=October 23, 2013|access-date=May 19, 2017}}

Duffy studied humanities at St. Dunstan's College.

{{BLP sources section|date=May 2023}}

Duffy became a ham radio operator at the age of 16 and began his career as a teen disc jockey at CFCY-TV. He moved to print journalism by working with The Guardian in Charlottetown. In 1965, he served as news director at CKDH-FM in Amherst, Nova Scotia before heading to CFCF in Montreal as a lineup and assignment editor in 1969. In 1971, he joined CFRA radio in Ottawa as a political reporter.

Duffy joined CBC radio's Parliament Hill bureau in 1974, and became a reporter for the flagship television newscast The National in 1977. He became the lead CBC television reporter on Parliament Hill and covered the elections and most of the important federal stories of the Trudeau, Clark and Mulroney governments. Primarily known for his work as an Ottawa journalist, he was considered a foreign correspondent. He covered the fall of South Vietnam in April 1975 and was one of the last journalists to leave before the arrival of North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong insurgents.

In 1988, Duffy joined Baton Broadcasting as the first host of its Sunday morning news program Sunday Edition based in Ottawa. When that series ended in 1999, Duffy moved to his role as a show host and interviewer with CTV Newsnet (now the CTV News Channel). Long known as an "Ottawa insider", he was able to get many elected officials to appear on his programs. Duffy hosted two programs on CTV Newsnet, Countdown with Mike Duffy and Mike Duffy Live, which was broadcast in the supper hour news slot. Duffy was also a popular speaker at conferences, annual meetings and other events across Canada and, writer Stevie Cameron noted in her 1990 book Ottawa Inside Out, was probably the most-recognized journalist on Parliament Hill.

On May 27, 2009, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled Duffy violated Canadian broadcasting codes during the 2008 Canadian federal election.{{Cite web|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9011941.html|title = Saltwire | Halifax}} It concluded that Duffy's decision to re-broadcast an earlier ATV Halifax broadcast of ‘false starts’ of an interview with then-Liberal leader Stephane Dion “was not fair, balanced, or even handed.”{{cite web |url=http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/2009/090527.php |title=CBSC Decision | CTV Newsnet re an episode of Mike Duffy Live Prime Time (Stéphane Dion Interview) |website=www.cbsc.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531054312/http://www.cbsc.ca/english/decisions/2009/090527.php |archive-date=2009-05-31}} The Panel also concluded that, during the same broadcast, Duffy “significantly misrepresented the view of one of the three members of his Panel...Liberal MP Geoff Regan.” The panel thus concluded “that the consistent misrepresentation by host Mike Duffy of the MP’s point of view constituted an unfair and improper presentation of opinion or comment contrary to clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics."

In 1986, he won an ACTRA Award for live television reporting, for his coverage of the 1985 Turkish embassy attack in Ottawa by the Armenian Revolutionary Army.{{cite web

|url=http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/personalities.php?id=203

|title=Canadian Communications Foundation: Biographies–Duffy, Michael D.

|publisher=Canadian Communications Foundation

|access-date=July 31, 2009

}} In 1994, Duffy was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.{{cite web

|url=http://www.cab-acr.ca/english/about/awards/hof/complete_hof.shtm

|title=CAB Hall of Fame Awards

|publisher=Canadian Association of Broadcasters

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025023757/http://www.cab-acr.ca/english/about/awards/hof/complete_hof.shtm

|archive-date=October 25, 2008

}}

Duffy has received honorary degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island, as well as Wilfrid Laurier University and from Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York.{{cite press release

|url = http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2364

|title = Backgrounder - List of new Senators

|publisher = Office of the Prime Minister

|date = December 22, 2008

|access-date = July 31, 2009

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100114023052/http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2364

|archive-date = January 14, 2010

|url-status = dead

|df = mdy-all

}} He has been a visiting fellow at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, and has been twice nominated for the "best in the business" award by the Washington Journalism Review.

In 2002, he was awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

{{cite web

|url=http://gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=7152&t=6&ln=Duffy

|title=Find a Recipient

|publisher=Governor General of Canada

|access-date=December 5, 2013

}}

On December 22, 2008, Duffy was named a Prince Edward Island representative to the Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sitting as a Conservative.{{cite news

|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/prime-minister-fills-18-vacant-senate-seats-1.353908

|title=Prime minister fills 18 vacant Senate seats

|date=December 22, 2008|access-date=December 22, 2008|publisher=CTV News}} He subsequently retired as a TV journalist at the end of 2008. He was introduced to the Senate on January 26, 2009 immediately prior to the Speech from the Throne.{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/Sen/Chamber/402/Debates/001db_2009-01-26-e.htm#4|title=Senate of Canada - Debates|first=Senate of|last=Canada|website=Senate of Canada|date=July 22, 2016|access-date=May 19, 2017}}

{{Main|Canadian Senate expenses scandal}}

In 2012, Duffy was accused by the media and Senate of improperly claiming primary residency outside of Ottawa in order to claim living expenses for time working in Ottawa. Three other senators, with different fact cases, were also accused of filing false expenses.{{cite news|first=Laura|last=Payton|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/p-e-i-senator-mike-duffy-under-fire-for-living-expenses-1.1339034 |title=P.E.I. Senator Mike Duffy under fire for living expenses|date=February 4, 2013 |publisher=CBC News|access-date=February 6, 2013}} On February 28, 2013, the Senate Committee on the Internal Economy announced that Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Mac Harb, and Patrick Brazeau would be subject to a forensic audit to determine appropriateness of their expense claims.{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senator-mike-duffy-declared-eligible-for-p-e-i-seat-1.1313497|title=Senator Mike Duffy declared eligible for P.E.I. seat: 4 senators subject to further spending audit as probe wraps|publisher=CBC News |first=Laura |last=Payton|date=February 28, 2013|access-date=February 28, 2013}} After several weeks of negative publicity, Duffy, despite believing he was entitled to claim the PEI residence, volunteered to pay back the expenses he had claimed for his Ottawa residence.{{cite news|url= http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/mike-duffy-made-secret-deal-with-harper-s-chief-of-staff-during-audit-1.1282015 |title=Mike Duffy made secret deal with Harper's chief of staff during audit|publisher=CTV News|date=May 15, 2013|access-date=May 16, 2013}} Prime Minister Harper's Chief of Staff, Nigel Wright wrote a personal cheque to Duffy for $90,172 to cover past residency expenses claimed as part of an agreement Duffy made with the Prime Minister's Office.{{cite news|url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pm-s-chief-of-staff-paid-off-mike-duffy-s-senate-expenses-1.1300717 |title=PM's chief of staff paid off Mike Duffy's Senate expenses|publisher=CBC News |first1=Meagan|last1=Fitzpatrick|first2=Leslie|last2=MacKinnon |date=May 15, 2013|access-date=May 16, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2016/2016oncj220/2016oncj220.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAQAKTWlrZSBEdWZmeQAAAAAB&resultIndex=1 |title = 2016 ONCJ 220 (CanLII) {{!}} R. v. Duffy {{!}} CanLII}} Duffy then repaid the Government of Canada $90,172 in March 2013. Duffy resigned from the Conservative caucus on May 16, 2013, and became an independent senator.{{cite news|url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2013/05/17/sen-mike-duffy-quits-conservative-caucus-over-expenses/|title=Sen. Mike Duffy quits Conservative caucus over expenses|work=CityNews|location=Toronto|date=May 17, 2013}} On November 5, 2013 the Senate voted to suspend Duffy and two other senators.{{cite news|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/national/Alert+Senate+votes+suspend+Mike+Duffy/9126709/story.html |title=Senate warns others about expenses as it votes to suspend Wallin, Duffy and Brazeau (with video) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228081024/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Alert%2BSenate%2Bvotes%2Bsuspend%2BMike%2BDuffy/9126709/story.html |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |author=Jordan Press |author2=Andrea Hill |date=November 6, 2013 |work=Edmonton Journal |url-status=dead }} However, in his trial decision exonerating Duffy in 2016, Ontario Superior Court Judge Charles Vaillancourt said Duffy had not falsely claimed living expenses. The judge said Duffy had no choice in the matter, as he had been appointed to represent Prince Edward Island in the Senate.

On July 17, 2014, Duffy was charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with 31 offences.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-charges-read-rcmp-statement-and-details-of-31-counts-1.2709928 |title=Mike Duffy charges: Read RCMP statement and details of 31 counts |author= |date=July 17, 2014 |website=CBC News |publisher=CBC/Radio Canada |access-date=19 November 2015}} Duffy was acquitted of all charges on April 21, 2016. Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt ruled: "Mr. Neubauer (the Crown prosecutor) stated that Senator Duffy’s actions were driven by deceit, manipulations and carried out in a clandestine manner representing a serious and marked standard expected of a person in Senator Duffy’s position of trust. I find that if one were to substitute the PMO, Nigel Wright and others for Senator Duffy in the aforementioned sentence that you would have a more accurate statement." The judge ruled Duffy had no choice but to list his Prince Edward Island home as his principal residence, as he had been appointed a senator from that province and was constitutionally required to be resident there. Duffy's "free will" had been "overwhelmed" and he had "capitulated" as a result of the PMO's -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office, that is, -- "threatening efforts," the judge said. The Superior Court judge said Duffy had been pressured by senior members of the Prime Minister's staff to admit to improper expense accounts when they were, in fact, legitimate, adding "the real deceit came from Harper's office."{{Cite web|date=2016-04-22|title=Mike Duffy's Trial Reveals The Real Deceit Came From Harper's Office|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/althia-raj/mike-duffy-trial_b_9761506.html|access-date=2020-06-11|website=HuffPost Canada|language=en}}{{Citation|title=R. v. Duffy|date=2016-04-21|url=http://canlii.ca/t/gplvk|access-date=2020-06-11}}

Robert Fife, now the Globe and Mail's Ottawa bureau chief, won an award for his reporting on the so-called "Senate scandal." On the day Sen. Duffy was acquitted, Fife claimed he had been repeatedly misled by the Harper PMO. He went on to declare the scandal was a "manipulative hoax" by Nigel Wright foisted on the Canadian public. "From the beginning when I broke that story on the $90,000. The Prime Minister’s Office every step of the way lied to me, they lied to Canadians. And inch by inch we were able to scale back and find out one lie after another, one lie after another. And then in the summertime when Nigel Wright and the other key lieutenants in the Prime Minister’s Office were put on the stand, we saw just how this manipulative hoax was put on the Canadian public."{{cite web| url = https://soundcloud.com/newstalk-580-cfra/robert-fife-gives-immediate-reaction-to-the-duffy-verdict| title = SoundCloud - Hear the world's sounds}} Duffy immediately resumed his seat in the Senate and sat as an independent until his retirement.

On August 24, 2017, Duffy filed a lawsuit against the Senate and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seeking damages of {{CAD|8 million|link=yes}}. Duffy alleged the RCMP was liable for negligent investigation. He accused the Senate of abuse of process and breaching its duty to provide him with a fair hearing before suspending him. Duffy accused the Senate of acting under media pressure and adding to stress that took a heavy toll on his health.{{cite news|title=Canadian Senator Mike Duffy sues Senate and Mounties|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41040624|access-date=27 August 2017|agency=British Broadcasting Corporation|date=August 24, 2017|language=en}}

In December 2018, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed Duffy's lawsuit against the Senate. The decision by Justice Sally Gomery included this statement: "Allowing a court to revisit the Senate's decisions at issue here would interfere with the Senate's ability to function as an independent legislative body, equal to other branches of government". Duffy's suit against the RCMP, based on alleged negligence in their investigation, was not affected by this decision.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-duffy-court-dismisses-lawsuit-1.4947173|title=Ontario court dismisses Mike Duffy's lawsuit against Senate|date=14 December 2018 |publisher=CBC News|access-date=15 December 2018|quote=Judge says lawsuit would interfere with the Senate's ability to act as an 'independent legislative body'}}

In January 2019, Duffy filed an appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal.{{cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4835169/mike-duffy-appeal-senate-lawsuit/|title=Mike Duffy seeks appeal after court blocks him from suing Senate |website=globalnews.ca |date=2019-01-10 |access-date=2019-06-17}} His appeal was ultimately unsuccessful. In October 2020, Duffy filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada,{{cite web|url= https://globalnews.ca/news/7411366/mike-duffy-files-appeal/amp/ |title= Mike Duffy files appeal to Supreme Court, seeks to sue Senate |website=globalnews.ca |date=2020-10-21 |access-date=2020-12-08}} which was dismissed in February 2021.{{cite news |last1=Bronskill |first1=Jim |title=Supreme Court dismisses Sen. Mike Duffy's appeal |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/supreme-court-dismisses-sen-mike-duffy-s-appeal-1.5304483 |access-date=February 11, 2021 |publisher=CTV News |date=February 11, 2021}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.mikeduffy.ca/ MikeDuffy.ca] - Official Site
• {{cite book|last1=Leger|first1=Dan|title=Duffy: From Stardom to Senate to Scandal|date=2014|publisher=Nimbus Publishing|location=Halifax|isbn=9781771081467|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/duffystardomtose0000lege}}
• {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=17335}}

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Category:1946 births

Category:Canadian senators from Prince Edward Island

Category:Canadian television news anchors

Category:Conservative Party of Canada senators

Category:Independent Canadian senators

Category:Journalists from Prince Edward Island

Category:Duke University faculty

Category:Living people

Category:Politicians from Charlottetown

Category:CBC Television people

Category:Corruption in Canada

Category:Canadian people of Irish descent

Category:Canadian political journalists

Category:21st-century members of the Senate of Canada

Category:Independent Senators Group

Category:CTV Television Network people

Category:20th-century Canadian journalists

Category:21st-century Canadian journalists