Mike Duffy trial: Senate moves to keep internal report on residency secret
Neither Duffy defence lawyer Donald Bayne nor the Crown have seen report
The Senate is attempting to block the release of a politically sensitive audit it quietly conducted into the residency status of all senators, the Mike Duffy trial heard Monday.
The audit was commissioned some time in late 2012 or early 2013, when the Senate expense scandal first began to unfold.
- Mike Duffy trial: Senate finance knew Duffy had lived in Ottawa home for years
- Mike Duffy trial: Will Justin Bieber help Crown's case against suspended senator?
- Mike Duffy edited Senate residency declaration to remove word 'primary'
Duffy's lawyer Donald Bayne and Crown prosecutor Mark Holmes briefly discussed the fact that a lawyer for the Senate is claiming parliamentary privilege to keep the audit from becoming public.
Bayne will have to decide whether it's worth the effort to fight for the document, possibly in a separate legal proceeding in Ontario Superior Court.
Neither Bayne nor the Crown have seen the audit, but it was referred to during a 2013 police interview with Gary O'Brien, who was then clerk of the Senate.
"Before Christmas 2012, the internal economy committee requested that senators provide four specific documents to support their residency locations," reads the report of the interview.
"Using those indicators, an internal audit would be done by (administrator) Jill Anne Joseph, on all senators."
Brief report released in early 2013
In February 2013, the committee put out a brief report saying that only two additional senators initially raised flags during the audit — Liberal Sen. Rod Zimmer and Conservative Sen. Dennis Patterson.
"Both explained to the complete satisfaction of the interviewers that their travel claims were in order," the report said.
Duffy, along with Senators Patrick Brazeau, Mac Harb and Pamela Wallin had already had their expense claims referred to outside auditors at that point.
Senate spokesperson Nancy Durning said Monday she could not discuss a matter that is before the courts.
In this fourth week of Duffy's trial on fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges, the focus has looped back to Duffy's declaration of his Ottawa-area home as his secondary residence, enabling him to collect $90,000 in living expenses over four years.