Michael Dennis Duffy (born May 27, 1946) is a former Canadian senator and Canadian television journalist. Prior to his appointment to the upper house in 2008, he was the Ottawa editor for CTV News Channel. Upon turning 75 on May 27, 2021, Duffy retired from the Senate due to mandatory retirement rules.

Early life

Mike Duffy was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to Lillian and Wilfrid Duffy. He is a grandson of Charles Gavan Duffy, a PEI Liberal MLA and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.

Duffy studied humanities at St. Dunstan's College. It concluded that Duffy's decision to re-broadcast an earlier ATV Halifax broadcast of ‘false starts’ of an interview with then-Liberal leader Stephane Dion “was not fair, balanced, or even handed.” The Panel also concluded that, during the same broadcast, Duffy “significantly misrepresented the view of one of the three members of his Panel...Liberal MP Geoff Regan.” In 1994, Duffy was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Duffy has received honorary degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island, as well as Wilfrid Laurier University and from Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York. He has been a visiting fellow at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, and has been twice nominated for the "best in the business" award by the Washington Journalism Review.

Political career

On December 22, 2008, Duffy was named a Prince Edward Island representative to the Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sitting as a Conservative. He subsequently retired as a TV journalist at the end of 2008. He was introduced to the Senate on January 26, 2009 immediately prior to the Speech from the Throne.

Expenses controversy

In 2012, Duffy was accused by the media and Senate of improperly claiming primary residency outside of Ottawa in order to claim living expenses for time working in Ottawa. Three other senators, with different fact cases, were also accused of filing false expenses. On February 28, 2013, the Senate Committee on the Internal Economy announced that Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Mac Harb, and Patrick Brazeau would be subject to a forensic audit to determine appropriateness of their expense claims. After several weeks of negative publicity, Duffy, despite believing he was entitled to claim the PEI residence, Prime Minister Harper's Chief of Staff, Nigel Wright wrote a personal cheque to Duffy for $90,172 to cover past residency expenses claimed as part of an agreement Duffy made with the Prime Minister's Office. Duffy then repaid the Government of Canada $90,172 in March 2013. Duffy resigned from the Conservative caucus on May 16, 2013, and became an independent senator. On November 5, 2013 the Senate voted to suspend Duffy and two other senators. However, in his trial decision exonerating Duffy in 2016, Ontario Superior Court Judge Charles Vaillancourt said Duffy had not falsely claimed living expenses. The judge said Duffy had no choice in the matter, as he had been appointed to represent Prince Edward Island in the Senate. Duffy was acquitted of all charges on April 21, 2016. Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt ruled: "Mr. Neubauer (the Crown prosecutor) stated that Senator Duffy’s actions were driven by deceit, manipulations and carried out in a clandestine manner representing a serious and marked standard expected of a person in Senator Duffy’s position of trust. I find that if one were to substitute the PMO, Nigel Wright and others for Senator Duffy in the aforementioned sentence that you would have a more accurate statement." The judge ruled Duffy had no choice but to list his Prince Edward Island home as his principal residence, as he had been appointed a senator from that province and was constitutionally required to be resident there. Duffy's "free will" had been "overwhelmed" and he had "capitulated" as a result of the PMO's -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office, that is, -- "threatening efforts," the judge said. The Superior Court judge said Duffy had been pressured by senior members of the Prime Minister's staff to admit to improper expense accounts when they were, in fact, legitimate, adding "the real deceit came from Harper's office."

Robert Fife, now the Globe and Mails Ottawa bureau chief, won an award for his reporting on the so-called "Senate scandal." On the day Sen. Duffy was acquitted, Fife claimed he had been repeatedly misled by the Harper PMO. He went on to declare the scandal was a "manipulative hoax" by Nigel Wright foisted on the Canadian public. "From the beginning when I broke that story on the $90,000. The Prime Minister’s Office every step of the way lied to me, they lied to Canadians. And inch by inch we were able to scale back and find out one lie after another, one lie after another. And then in the summertime when Nigel Wright and the other key lieutenants in the Prime Minister’s Office were put on the stand, we saw just how this manipulative hoax was put on the Canadian public." Duffy immediately resumed his seat in the Senate and sat as an independent until his retirement.

Civil lawsuit

On August 24, 2017, Duffy filed a lawsuit against the Senate and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seeking damages of . Duffy alleged the RCMP was liable for negligent investigation. He accused the Senate of abuse of process and breaching its duty to provide him with a fair hearing before suspending him. Duffy accused the Senate of acting under media pressure and adding to stress that took a heavy toll on his health.

In December 2018, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed Duffy's lawsuit against the Senate. The decision by Justice Sally Gomery included this statement: "Allowing a court to revisit the Senate's decisions at issue here would interfere with the Senate's ability to function as an independent legislative body, equal to other branches of government". Duffy's suit against the RCMP, based on alleged negligence in their investigation, was not affected by this decision.

In January 2019, Duffy filed an appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal. His appeal was ultimately unsuccessful. In October 2020, Duffy filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which was dismissed in February 2021.

References

  • MikeDuffy.ca - Official Site