In email, he pushed for office, car and staff to promote Conservatives while on public payroll.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA May 30, 2013 (Straight Goods News) Today's revelation of a leaked email from Mike Duffy, in which he lobbied for a Cabinet ministry without a portfolio, gave new life today to the Senate expense fraud scandal in the House of Commons.
CBC News published word of an email from Duffy that a Conservative insider passed along. In it, Duffy said he wanted a Cabinet position and perks such as a a car and driver so he could campaign and raise funds for the Conservative Party of Canada.
Ralph Goodale says the Duffy email makes unprecedented demands. 
Former Liberal Cabinet member Ralph Goodale said he has never heard of such a circumstance. "This mess just continues to get messier," he told reporters. "The gall of Mr. Duffy making that additional proposal and I gather explicitly saying that he should be minister without portfolio without any administrative responsibilities!" said Goodale. "There have on occasion historically been ministers without portfolio to satisfy regional coverage and that sort of thing, but it is certainly not a common practice and they are given something to do in the administration of the Government of Canada, not the administration of the party in power. That’s the important distinction."
Charlie Angus says Harpers cronies were "diving into the trough."
NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said the latest revelations show the sense of "entitlement" Conservative appointees feel. "Canadians are seeing that the people that Prime Minister Harper personally chose were diving into the trough. Their sense of entitlement, their sense of 'I want,' it was 'Gimme, gimme, gimme,' all the way and the Prime Minister knew there were problems. They knew that the rules were being broken and yet the Prime Minister stood by him, defended him and just a little over a week ago thanked Mike Duffy for leadership. This shows that there's really major question marks around the Prime Minister's judgment."
About Samantha Bayard
Samantha Bayard is a young journalist living and working out of Ottawa. She has been a contributor to the Straight Goods News family of websites since 2009. She is an avid cyclist and lover of animals.
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