Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Twist my arm

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:25pm - 24 Comments

The last thing Mike Duffy wanted to be was a Conservative senator.

At first he said he wasn’t interested in the Senate, he said. But he had watched a round of layoffs take place at CTV, he said, and knew more were on the way. ”I thought, do I want to be around the office when it happens again?” Duffy said.

He reconsidered, and said he’d accept if he was offered a seat, he said.

He also said he wanted to sit as an independent, because he wasn’t a Conservative. ”I was always a journalist,” Duffy said. But Conservative senators were in the minority, he said, and Prime Minister Harper told him he needed him to sit as one. ”And I thought, well, OK,” Duffy said.

Tags: CTV, Mike Duffy, Senate, Stephen Harper

More by Aaron Wherry

http://intensedebate.com/people/doug_rogers doug_rogers

A journalist… independant? with no party affiliations? whoda thunk it?

http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Let's ask Senator Munson.

http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

For a guy that's suppose to be non-partisan, he sure was partisan. I think he now realizes he's lost respect and credibility.

I think it's hit him that Don Newman retired with respect and dignity and kudos, whereas Duffy snuck away in the dark of night.

I don't believe his story. He's an opportunist.
Mike T.

Nice to see his relationship with accuracy and transparency hasn't changed.
Loraine Lamontagne

So what is stopping Mike Duffy from sitting as an independent now?

cwe

After that infomercial he did with the PM, I'd settle for behaving as an independent.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

The cheesecake?

Michael

B.S.
PolJunkie

Who is Duffy kidding? If the CTV layoffs, he could have just retired.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Douglass Douglass

Where's the money in that???
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

from the quote, i think he more meant he just didn't want to be around when others were shown the door….too unpleasureable.

Dee

Mike Duffy: paragon of integrity. From CTV, the folks who brought you the Bob Fife hatchet job and Jane Taber's Hot and Not list.

Enjoy the incredibly generous senator's salary and pension Mike…
Anon

Be nice. The guy's two minutes away from a massive cardiac event. He simply does not care.
cam

I thought of Mike Duffy as I watched Don Newman stand in the gallery and take the recognition of the Speaker and the tributes from all sides of the House… Don Newman, all class.

I asked a Conservative recently about Duffy's behaviour and they rolled their eyes, and said "you know what converts are like, over the top."
http://bcinto.blogpot.com BCer in Toronto

It has been an open secret in political Ottawa that Mike Duffy has been angling for a Senate job for years, so this is a particularly entertaining bit of historical revisionism from the honourable senator for not really PEI.

I will say I believe Duffy isn't necessarily a died in the wool Conservative, although his comments here are in direct contrast to what he has been saying on the CPC fund raising circuit. But no, had the Liberals seen fit to call the Duffster to the red chamber I'm certain he would have been happy to sit as a Liberal, and bash the Conservatives with all his might.

He just wanted to be in the Senate, and he'll happily play whatever role he's cast in.
Jim Beil

Wasn't interested in the Senate? That must be why people were writing thing like this in the Saskatchewas Star Pheonix over ten years ago.

"In an action that is even funnier than Frank's satirical jabs at Duffy, the TV host claims the magazine's comments about him have prejudiced his chances of ever being awarded the Order of Canada. One presumes Duffy also feels this might adversely affect his well- known desire to be appointed to the Senate from his native Prince Edward Island." April 16th 1999. pg A2
Anon

I think the better question might be: how does a joke like Duffy get to host a show on a national network?

The Senate is filled with losers and have-beens. But you'd think a private broadcaster concerned about ratings and profits might be a bit more discerning.

http://intensedebate.com/people/TJCook TJCook

"how does a joke like Duffy get to host a show on a national network? "

Good question.

Of course, this very publication continues to give the odious Mark Steyn column space, so perhaps quality isn't a priority for Canadian media. Was everybody else as gobsmacked as me to see Wells publicly fact-check Steyn's column today?

Anon

"Of course, this very publication continues to give the odious Mark Steyn column space…"

…who's guest hosting Rush Limbaugh's show (or was last week or something.). Maybe when we finally bring the editors, producers and publishers in front of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, we'll get our answers. At this point, I'd be completely satisfied with "We had no idea what we were doing!"

http://intensedebate.com/people/futurepm matthew

Am I the only person who, after reading this, flashed back to the Family Guy episode where Peter wins over the US Senate against tobacco lobbyists by just saying "C'maaaaan" repeatedly?
http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

Limbaugh of the north was a regular guest on Duffy's show – big mouth Adler.

BCer in Mtl

And Lowell Green when the puffster used to host Question Period. I thought he was a comedy act (years before Colbert) but realized after a while he was for real.

Not to mention L. Ian Macdonald, he of the major man-crush on Mulroney and Harper

Bob

http://www.bobdechert.ca/

He's such an independent, he's doing $250 a head fundraisers for ex-party hacks turned backbench MP's.
Wotcher?

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs…