Five things about Sen. Mike Duffy’s trial for fraud, breach of trust, bribery

OTTAWA – Ontario Justice Charles Vaillancourt will deliver his decision Thursday on Sen. Mike Duffy’s fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges, all of which stem from his controversial Senate housing and travel expenses.

Here are five things to know going into the verdict:

1. Duffy faces 31 charges. They fall into five categories: issues related to living expenses Duffy claimed for his suburban Ottawa home; inappropriate expenses relating to personal and partisan activity; inappropriate expense claims assisted with personal attendance and funerals and related ceremonies; disbursements of money paid to Duffy’s friend Gerald Donohue for illegitimate expenses; and charges relating to the receipt of a $90,172.24 cheque from Nigel Wright, then the prime minister’s chief of staff.

2. That he’s a senator is a important element of the alleged crimes. The breach of trust charges Duffy faces are because of his role as a public official and he can be found guilty whether or not the crime would be an offence if committed by a private person. The Supreme Court lays out the reason for this provision of the Criminal Code in a 2006 case known as R. vs. Boulanger, writing that public officials are given their authority to be used for the public benefit, so they should be answerable to the public “in a way private actors may not be.”

3. He is facing jail time if convicted. The breach of trust charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Six of the fraud charges are for amounts over $5,000, which carry a maximum 14-year term. The fraud charges under $5,000 could be met with prisons terms of less than two years. The bribery count has a maximum 14-year sentence.

4. There’s also the matter of his job. Duffy was suspended without pay from the Senate between November 2013 and the dissolution of the last Parliament in August 2015. After dissolution, his pay was reinstated but he remained on a leave of absence with no access to Senate resources because of his ongoing trial. What happens after the verdict is governed by two things: Senate rules and the Constitution. The rules say if he’s acquitted, he can take up his seat in the Senate at the very next sitting. If he’s convicted on even a single charge, he remains on a leave of absence until sentencing. If his sentence is anything other than a discharge, he is suspended without pay and access to resources until the conclusion of all legal proceedings, including appeal, are over. The Constitution says a Senate seat must be vacated by anyone convicted of “felony or any infamous crime.” Felony is now understood to mean an indictable offence and that’s what Duffy is charged with.

5. Cases against other senators may hang in the balance. Two other senators are currently waiting to stand trial for their own expenses. Former Liberal senator Mac Harb and former Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau also face fraud and breach of trust charges. Harb’s trial was delayed in part because Duffy’s went on far longer than expected. Brazeau’s trial has been postponed until 2017 after Brazeau was hospitalized in January. There is also the outstanding case of Sen. Pamela Wallin. The RCMP handed over its investigation into her to Crown prosecutors last year but there’s been no movement since.