Michael Duffy (senator)
Michael Duffy is a notable figure in Canadian politics, serving as a senator representing Prince Edward Island after his appointment on January 26, 2009. Before entering politics, Duffy had a successful career as a journalist, becoming well-known for his work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and later CTV, where he garnered significant acclaim for his political reporting. His journalism included covering significant events, such as the fall of South Vietnam, and he received several awards throughout his career.
Duffy's political tenure was marred by financial controversies, leading to serious legal challenges. He faced charges from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, including fraud and breach of trust, stemming from questionable expense claims and a controversial payment arrangement with the chief of staff to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Although he maintained his innocence, asserting he was coerced into certain actions, Duffy was suspended from the Senate for two years and later acquitted of all charges in 2016.
His political career ultimately ended when he retired in 2021 at the mandatory age of seventy-five. Throughout his life, Duffy has experienced both acclaim and controversy, reflecting the complexities of political life in Canada.
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Michael Duffy (senator)
Canadian politician
- Born: May 27, 1946
- Place of Birth: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Education: St. Dunstan’s College
- Significance: Michael Duffy was a journalist and Canadian senate representative of Prince Edward Island, appointed on January 26, 2009. The senator’s political career was mired in financial controversies, culminating in being charged with thirty-one criminal offenses by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, including fraud, breach of trust, and bribery.
Background
Canadian politician. Michael Dennis Duffy was born to parents Wilfrid and Lillian Duffy in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. His grandfather, Gavan Duffy, was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. He was the oldest of five siblings. Duffy dropped out of high school but years later received honorary degrees from Niagara University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Prince Edward Island. He was a ham radio aficionado and would make amateur audition tapes using borrowed equipment. At sixteen, he got a paying radio job, working shifts twice a week. Duffy then became a news writer and presenter at a radio station in Nova Scotia.
Life’s Work
After moving to Ottawa in 1971, his outgoing personality and genial manner made him popular at City Hall. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio noticed Duffy, and in 1974 he was enlisted for their Parliament Hill program. Three years later, his popularity grew after being moved to The National, the CBC’s flagship television newscast. He remained at the CBC for fourteen years, becoming their chief political correspondent. In 1988, he left the CBC to become a show host at CTV, where he got many interviews with well-known political figures due to the relationships he cultivated throughout his career. This move made him a very handsomely paid journalist, and he enjoyed minor celebrity status. Although he was mainly known as a political journalist, he was also a foreign correspondent who was in Saigon covering the fall of South Vietnam. He received several accolades, including the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists Award (ACTRA) in 1986 for live television reporting, and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1994.
Duffy was unfulfilled, however, and yearned to be a senator. In the lead-up to Canada’s 2008 federal election, there were complaints of bias on his show, Mike Duffy Live, towards Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party for which he was reprimanded by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. His actions alienated liberal viewers. Harper duly rewarded Duffy after the election with an appointment to the senate to represent Duffy’s home, Prince Edward Island.
Duffy would later run into controversy. Harper utilized Duffy’s fame and convivial persona for fundraising ventures. Even though he had resided in Ottawa for many years, Duffy claimed that his main residence was Prince Edward Island, for which he received an allowance for a secondary residence in the capital meant to help with the costs of maintaining two homes. In 2012, after proof was requested by the Senate Standing Committee that Duffy did indeed primarily live on Prince Edward Island, Duffy applied for a Prince Edward Island health card and asked that the process for obtaining one be sped up so he would have it for the audit. In February 2013, however, it was announced that he, along with three other senators, would be forensically audited to determine if there was any validity to his living expenses claims. Weeks after the revelation and facing public criticism, Duffy offered to repay the monies he had received. Duffy received a personal check from Harper’s Chief of Staff, Nigel Wright, for over $90,000, which he used to repay the government of Canada. After the repayment, he refused to cooperate with any further investigations. The senator resigned from the Conservative Party and became an independent representative in May 2013 after the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada announced that they were looking into the check Duffy had received from Wright. Wright’s check was said to be a gift, and the funds were not expected to be repaid. Duffy was suspended from the Senate without pay for two years in November 2013. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) laid charges against Duffy for thirty-one offenses on July 17, 2014. The charges stemmed from the questionable awarding of consulting contracts, acceptance of Wright’s check, and various expense claims he had received as a result of being a member of the Senate. Duffy maintained his innocence at the trial in 2015, placing all blame on the Conservative Party. He claimed during his testimony that he was heavily coerced into taking Wright’s check and likewise instructed to claim residency in Prince Edward Island in order to qualify as the representative. Duffy, along with the other suspended senators, resumed receiving their salaries when elections were called early in August 2015. The following year, Duffy was acquitted of all charges.
In 2017, Duffy filed a civil suit against the Senate and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for abuse of process and negligence. Initially dismissed by lower courts, Duffy appealed the case to the Canadian Supreme Court, which also threw out the case. Duffy remained an independent in the Senate until he retired in 2021 because he had turned seventy-five, the mandatory retirement age for senators.
Impact
The trial did not portray the Conservative Party in a positive light and negatively affected their campaign in the 2015 federal election. Harper and his conservatives were voted out in favor of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party.
Personal Life
Duffy was married twice. He had two children, Gavin and Miranda, with his first wife Nancy, whom he divorced in 1979. In 1992, he married a nurse who had once cared for him, Heather Collins.
Bibliography
Larocque, Corey. "Sen. Mike Duffy: A Brief Biography." Ottawa Sun. Canoe Sun Media, 6 April 2015. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. www.ottawasun.com/2015/04/06/sen-mike-duffy-a-brief-biography. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
"Michael Duffy—Independent." Parliament of Canada. Senate of Canada, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsBio/senator‗biography.aspx?senator‗id=2802. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
"Mike Duffy: From Newsman to Senator to Defendant." About News. About.com, 2016. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. <http://canadaonline.about.com/od/senate/fl/Mike-Duffy-Biography.htm>. "The Rise and Fall of “Mike Duffy Retires After Career Tainted by Senate Expenses Scandal.” CTV News, 26 May 2021, www.ctvnews.ca/politics/mike-duffy-retires-after-career-tainted-by-senate-expenses-scandal-1.5443443?cache=almppngbro. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.