OTTAWA – New Democrats want a parliamentary committee to determine whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper deliberately misled the House of Commons over the Senate expenses scandal or was deceived by his own staff.

NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus is asking Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer to rule that Harper was in contempt of Parliament last spring when he repeatedly insisted no one in his office knew his chief of staff had bailed out Sen. Mike Duffy — an assurance since contradicted by the RCMP.

Angus then wants the matter referred to the procedure and House affairs committee to find out whether Harper intentionally misled the Commons or whether his staff didn’t bother to fill him in on the facts.

Angus’s argument is supported by other opposition parties.

However, government House leader Peter Van Loan says Harper personally knew nothing about the bailout and that whatever he told the Commons was accurate to the best of his knowledge at the time.

Nigel Wright resigned as Harper’s chief of staff several days after news leaked that he had given Duffy $90,000 to reimburse the Senate for wrongly claimed living expenses.