Duffy demanded compensation for the millionaire. The Canadian Press / Justin Tang
Legislator Mike Duffy, who has been suspended from his position for two years and has been on trial for fraud, will not be able to sue the Senate.
The Supreme Court of Canada approved the decision, dismissing the Senator’s appeal.
Duffy was acquitted in 2016 of 31 counts of fraud, following claims he made to reimburse his acting expenses, a request the Senate rejected.
Lawrence Grinspoon, Abu Dhabi Defense of the Chipulador. The Canadian Press / Patrick Doyle
The legislator, who was appointed to the post in 2013 by Stephen Harper’s former Conservative government, was involved in a scandal over a claim for expenditure payments that were deemed unjustified and that also reached other lawmakers.
After his acquittal, Duffy was authorized to return to his duties, but as an independent legislator, he asked the Senate to pay him his lost two-year salary and the costs that the defense caused during the judicial proceedings against him.
The claim, for a total of $ 7.8 million, also involved the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal government.
Compensation requests were denied in two judicial instances, and the Ontario Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court ruling, argued that suspending a legislator during the process in which the charges were adjudicated was part of the parliamentary prerogative, and thus there was no jurisdiction to intervene in the case.
In keeping with tradition, the Supreme Court has not released the reasons for its decision. The Canadian Press / Adrian Wilde
Duffy’s situation was part of the expense-gathering scandal claimed by various lawmakers that shook the Canadian Senate.
Some officials even demanded and demanded remittance bills be paid as costs in exercising office, even when they were members of Parliament and their headquarters in Ottawa, where the legislative seat is located.
At that time, Duffy, whose home is in the Canadian capital, was appointed by former Prime Minister Harper as a senator for Prince Edward Island, where he had never resided.
Similar scandals have affected other officials, including some of those who have held the position of the country’s general government, a position equivalent to representing the Queen on Canadian soil.
Fuente: The Canadian Press.
