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January 16, 2014

Did Stephen Harper's lawyer break the law

The Canadian Charger

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I'm starting to detect a subliminal - or not so subliminal - theme that permeates recent Canadian Charger articles about the Canadian Senate scandal: This scandal is really a good thing because it is giving the world a chance to see for itself how democracy in Canada - the soft face of the American militaristic, imperialistic regime - really works.

And when I see articles such as the recent one that begins with: “A University of Ottawa law professor has launched complaints of professional misconduct against the two lawyers involved in negotiating a payment of $90,000 from Nigel Wright to Senator Mike Duffy,” I can't help but think that those who write for the Canadian Charger must find it comforting that they are not the only ones who feel this way.

Inclusive but not exclusive in the above mentioned article, are such concepts as the fact that University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran has asked the bar societies of Ontario and British Columbia to investigate whether Senator Mike Duffy’s lawyer and Canadian Prime Minister Harper's lawyer Benjamin Perrin violated legal ethics by assisting clients in committing an offence, as the RCMP allege in court documents made the week before this above-mentioned article appeared in the Canadian press.

Mind you, the allegations against Nigel Wright, former head of Prime Minister Harper's Prime, Minister's Office (PMO) and Senator Mike Duffy have not been proven in court.

Moreover, I'm still not clear how or why Mr. Wright no longer works for Prime Minister Harper because the prime minister's explanation to the Canadian people as to why Mr. Wright no longer works for him, keeps changing.

Meanwhile, RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton, in a court document filed as part of an application to demand bank records and emails, states that he has “reasonable grounds to believe” that Senator Mike Duffy and now former head of the PMO Nigel Wright violated criminal code provisions.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned Mr. Attaran, University of Ottawa law professor, is quoted in the above-mentioned article as having written, in his complaint to the law society:

“That lawyers were involved is troubling, because if the RCMP is correct that Mr. Wright and Senator Duffy are criminally guilty of fraud, bribery or breach of trust, then it stands to reason that any lawyers who negotiated the deal with knowledge of its terms also acted unprofessionally,” Mr. Attaran writes. “There is no scope in legitimate legal representation knowingly to assist a client in the commission of an offence.”

Moreover, I've been told by a source - which is not confidential - that the Law Society of British Columbia said that it would consider investigating Perrin. After reading the above-mentioned article - which I have been continuously referring to throughout the article I'm currently writing - I'm somehow left with the impression that neither Perrin nor Payne have yet responded to a request for comment. I'm wondering, if it could be that neither Mr. Perrin nor Ms. Payne, in the course of their obviously rather storied legal careers, at obviously the upper echelons of the Canadian power structure, have ever had an encounter with that most vile of numerous little creatures called “the rule of law.

I'm told – and it's none of your business who told me - dear reader – that Mr. Attaran also mentions Arthur Hamilton, lawyer for the Conservative Party, who, according to the RCMP, was aware of the payment from Mr. Wright to Senator Duffy and transferred $13,000 from the party to cover Ms. Payne’s legal fees. Could it be that Mr. Hamilton has also never had an encounter with that most vile of numerous little creatures called “the rule of law,” in his however long, but obviously storied career as a lawyer, at obviously the upper echelons of the Canadian power structure, upon whom the large investors all of the world depend on to manage the billions they continuously inject into the Canadian economy, to increase the living standards of all Canadians.

In the now continuously referred to above-mentioned article, it has been written:

Attaran writes that his colleagues have expressed scepticism that the law societies will have the “courage to investigate allegations of lawyers’ misconduct arising in the dealings of the highest political office of the land.” He said Tuesday that he doesn’t know whether the law societies will act.

“That to me is not a foregone conclusion,” he said. “I don’t know. I hope to have it proved that they do have the courage.”

After reading this passage, I'm a little concerned that the Canadian Charger is going to hire Mr. Attaran as a writer, which of course, would mean less work for me.

Subsequently I have become aware of the fact – and I do mean fact – that RCMP Cpl. Horton is claiming in his Information to Obtain that he has not succeeded in obtaining all of Perrin's emails, because they were deleted when his employment at the prime minister's office ended in April 2013, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper ordered that all emails of PMO staffers were to be retained. The RCMP subsequently reviewed “260,000 email items of possible relevance.”

Perhaps now is the time to reveal what has erstwhile been confidential information: a few days ago – and I'm not saying how many – I emailed my editor at the Canadian Charger and informed him that in my not so humble opinion, I am convinced that this is the realization of a dream that myself and, I dare say, many others of my generation have longed for since becoming politically aware at whatever age: Canada has finally, after all these long agonizing years, made it to the big time: “THIS IS CANADA'S WATERGATE,” and not only will history remember it, it will remember it in great detail, just like WATERGATE.

And I can only hope that my sceptics, detractors and whatever other vile creatures – big and small - lurk somewhere were they will never ever be seen by the light of day, can understand why I began this article with:

“I'm starting to detect a subliminal – or not so subliminal - theme that permeates recent Canadian Charger articles about the Canadian Senate scandal: This scandal is really a good thing because it is giving the world a chance to see for itself how democracy in Canada – the soft face of the American militaristic, imperialistic regime – really works.

Next is Canada's Camelot, but that remains fodder for another day. Meanwhile, my fellow Canadians, lets join together in what I hope is our widespread hope, that this coming Camelot never ever arrives on Canadian soil, but forever remains somewhere where it will never ever see the light of day, where it rightfully – and when I say rightfully I mean morally, not politically - belongs.

By Scott Stockdale

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