Beyond The Commons

 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

The plot thickens

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, March 17, 2011 5:59pm - 55 Comments

This morning, the office of Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan confirmed a discussion with Bruce Carson. This evening, APTN adds to its investigation of Mr. Carson’s activities.

A former senior advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper was lobbying Indian Affairs to land water contracts potentially worth millions of dollars for an Ottawa-based water company that employed his fiance who was an escort.

The name of Michele McPherson, 22, appears on a secret contract witnessed by Bruce Carson that guaranteed her 20 per cent of all gross revenues from sales related to water contracts on First Nations reserves, according to a copy of the contract obtained by an APTN investigative team.

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  • Leo

    Now this has trappings of a real scandal!!!

    • john g

      Well I don't know about that. If all he got out of Indian affairs was one meeting and some publicly available data, then there's nothing more scandalous than there was before, at least to the government. Still just illegal lobbying on Carson's behalf.

      But it certainly makes me question Harper's judgement. What on earth was he doing letting a disbarred, previously convicted fraudster with a 22 year old escort as a fiancee anywhere near his inner circle?

      • NorthernPoV

        What on earth was he doing letting <snip> a 22 year old escort <snip> anywhere near his inner circle?

        Hoping to meet her friends? ;-)

        • Leo

          Rather attractive and certainly "kept" in style, lol!!!

          According to records, Carson and McPherson share a $400,000 house with an in-ground pool that sits on a 2-acre lot near Winchester about 60 km from Ottawa.

          The home was bought in December. Carson rarely stays there. He works out of Calgary and when he does come to Ottawa he also books a room at the Chateau Laurier next to Parliament Hill.

          McPherson also drives a black Mercedes SUV that Carson purchased.
          http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/03/17/former-harpe…

        • Diavoli
      • Crit_Reasoning

        Maybe he's a super-smooth talking fraudster. He worked for Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark, too. He could have explained his conviction 28 years ago as a regrettable lapse in judgment (youthful error, etc.) when they were doing background checks.

        • john g

          You know CR that would probably be acceptable for a lot of jobs…but inner circle of the Prime Minister trying to sweep away memories of Liberal corruption should not be one of them.

          • madeyoulook

            Super jumbo common sense in a small tweet-sized package. Well said, John.

          • Crit_Reasoning

            Good point, john g.

            I'll add this from the G&M report:

            The members of Mr. Harper’s inner circle were well aware of his criminal background when he became part of the transition team after Mr. Harper took office in 2006. But they felt he had paid his dues. “His advice was valued, there is no doubt about that,” a Conservative official said.

        • Reverend_Blair

          You understand that we live in a country where $10.00 warehouse jobs require a criminal record check and a DUI is enough to keep them from hiring somebody, right?

          • Leo

            As a former lawyer, he would have done the 'pardon' thingie PDQ.

            "A pardon allows people who were convicted of a criminal offence, but have completed their sentence and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens, to have their criminal record kept separate and apart from other criminal records. Pardons are issued by the federal government of Canada. This means that any search of the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) will not show that you had a criminal record, or that you were issued a pardon.

            After a Pardon is granted, it is sealed from public information access. When a criminal record check is done after a pardon is granted, the check will be returned stating no criminal record was found."

          • Reverend_Blair

            I would expect the PMO would have more of a vetting process than just running a criminal record check.

    • Mike T.

      I hope not. It's the kind of scummy dealing I expect any government will sadly sometimes engage in. What sets Harper apart is his disregard for our governmental institutions, like the pro-roging, the Afghan docs, and killing that bill in the senate.

    • Diavoli

      http://www.ottawaescorts.me/listing-leanna-7.html

      enjoy what carson does for $260 per hour

  • Dot

    Say, if someone improperly uses Stephen Harper's name to try to win contracts, is that influence peddling, or trademark infringement?

    • Crit_Reasoning

      It's both!

    • NorthernPoV

      how dare they try to trade on my country's (good?) name.

    • madeyoulook

      Good one, Dot.

  • Patchouli

    Interesting take: my read has conservative scum influence-peddling in a way that actually undermines some of our most vulnerable citizens who just really need potable water.

    • FVerhoeven

      And how many years longer does it take to provide the people with clean drinking water? You think if the Liberals have been in power for as long as they have, that they would have looked after that a long, long time ago.

      Oh, that's right. In the upcoming election the Lliberals are gonna promise clean drinking water for the natives, once again.

      Liberal election slogan: Clean drinking water for the natives and fee cool-aid for the rest of us!

      • LdKitchenersOwn

        You think if the Liberals have been in power for as long as they have.

        Perhaps you haven't read a paper recently? The Tories became the government FIVE YEARS AGO. Even if the Liberals dropped the ball for 13 years, that's hardly an excuse for the Tories following suit for five more.

        Tory election slogan: Who on Earth told you we were going to be different from the Liberals?!?!?

        • NorthernPoV

          how about
          "Remember the Liberals? We can do worse!"

          • Patchouli

            The Harper Government: Lowering the Bar further than you Ever. Thought. Possible.

      • Patchouli

        What has this to do with the Liberals? Cons caught out by APTV — that's the media, although I realize you mix them up in your head — and badly enough that harp himself is trying to distance his gov from his own former chief of staff!

        But don't let your fevered hatred of Liberals cloud what is otherwise brilliant thought…you should stay out of that "fee" (free??) koolaid for awhile.

  • Crit_Reasoning

    Not at all. This appears to be the real deal. Furthermore, the Liberals have nothing whatsoever to do with this.

    • ZestyMordant

      Furthermore-er, the mainstream media have nothing to do with this. (No offense to APTN)

  • Crit_Reasoning

    Kudos to the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network for their excellent investigative reporting.

    • Patchouli

      Agreed. I watched the newscast and it gave the network an opportunity to showcase the water issue to a much wider than usual audience, and it gave all Canadians another option of Canadian news reporting. I enjoyed it and extend kudos too.

      • Holly Stick

        And the video says more to come tomorrow!

    • TimesArrow

      Yea! go APTN go…that's my network…my area…lots of interesting native centred programming.

      Thet deserve a bit of exposure.

      Bit carried away there for a moment.

  • FVerhoeven

    Question for you, Mr.Wherry, if you would be so kind:

    What exactly is the discrepency between the Harper Government numbers and the PBO numbers?

    What EXACTLY is the difference between the numbers in dispute??

    • Al O'Wishes

      What EXACTLY do these questions have to do with the topic at hand?

      • Reverend_Blair

        I think FV lost the remote in sofa cushions again. He's having trouble changing channels.

    • frobisher

      And the price of tea in China should also be tabled. Immediately!

  • LdKitchenersOwn

    Did you just accuse the Harper PMO of being "Liberal scum"?!?!?!?

  • OriginalEmily1

    In 1982, Bruce Carson pleaded guilty to two counts of theft over $200, after forging the signatures of two clients and stealing almost $20,000 during the late 70's early 80's. He was disbarred, convicted of theft and sentenced to 18 months in jail . Soon after he was fired by Ottawa law firm Soloway Wright , Carson began working for the federal government.
    He has held several positions on Parliament Hill since then, including roles with former PMs Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark and as policy adviser to the Conservative caucus, during which he appeared before a Senate committee to answer a question on legislation around ethics in the workplace.

    Carson has been characterized as a "well greased individual who could talk the underwear off of a nun", the kind of guy that Harper needs to lead the charge in accountability!

    • Orson Bean

      He sort of sounds like the Second Coming of Karlheinz Schreiber. In both cases, the obvious question is — why would you, as a government, let somebody with that many obvious red flags anywhere near you? This is what always slays me about these sorts of stories.

      • OriginalEmily1

        Must be well-off….he's a senior and she's 22

        How he appealed to Harp, I dunno

    • Leo

      Hmmmm…..musta got one of them thar "pardons" they used to hand out automatically for $15 so your record disappeared, lol!!

  • M_A_D_world

    Back-room politics and pocket stuffing but enough about the young escort .
    It makes one wonder if these are symptoms of mere gross errors in judgment or disregard for upholding any standards for what little passes for accountability in this government

  • Patchouli

    A 22-year old ESCORT?

    Oh dearie me, and this guy was chief of staff.

  • Hmmmer

    This is just more con-firmation that Harper’s crew hasn’t really changed at all.

    They are still Reform, just with a different name but only because they had to change THAT channel.

    You cannot trust any thing from Harper or the PMO. They have no morals only an addiction to winning a majority they don’t deserve.

    Harper’s just a scumbag who found god to cajole that demographic and whipped some dumb Albertans into a frenzy to help get him into parliament.

    He’s the one who REALLY doesn’t care for Canada!

    Real conservatives must be just seething with anger that they have been so duped by this…Con
    .

  • Hmmmer

    @Arty

    We know you're hurt by this so we understand you have to re-direct your anger to your familiar hate.

    It's OK, we know you've invested a lot of energy in this joke of a 'Harper govt.' and we forgive your transgressions.

    You'll get over it big boy!
    .

  • Anon 001

    This story is not going to bust up Harper's election campaign. It has no legs. The girl clearly loves senior citizens who love leaders who love the troops. So she is a troop lover and a patriot.

    • Thwim

      But just how many of the troops did she love?

      • frobisher

        Forensic audit?

  • chet

    While the world contemplates real concern for all of us, in Japan, at home, our economy, our family's well being,

    at a time of such moment, such gravity,

    the opposition plays their petty mud throwing games.

    It will backfire immensely. BTW, it seems the At Issue Panel tonight agrees.

    • Amateur Hour

      Chet, the opposition had nothing to do with it. APTN broke the story.

      A top Tory and long-time Harper confidant — who led policy at the PMO as recently as 2009 and left with a sinecure appointment in Calgary, again courtesy of Mr. Harper — is alleged to have tried to use his "access" to the government to enrich himself and a hooker/business partner at the expense of aboriginal communities (with the dire water contamination problems).

      Even in politics, the company you keep says a lot about one's judgement.

      • Holly Stick

        Funny, I didn't hear the At Issue Panel say that.

  • Holly Stick

    I wonder if somebody is scrutinizing the other things he is involved with, such as Canada School of Energy and Environment (CSEE) in Calgary which got $15 million in government funding.

  • chet

    That Harper himself called in the RCMP,

    and utilizing the accountability act that he implemented,

    will be lost in the partisan drunken frenzie here tonight.

    It will not be lost on the voters.

    • gottabesaid

      Partisan drunken frenzy? It is St. Patty's Day, chet. If we're a little drunken, or a lot drunken, cut us some slack.

  • Diavoli

    http://www.ottawaescorts.me/listing-leanna-7.html

    This link if for pure reporting purposes

  • Haley

    PM Harper could probably rinse this matter out by appointing Bruce Carson to the Senate! Problem Solved. No Criminal record checks required. And because of this Bruce Carson/Michele McPherson issue, I am sure Canadians will understand now is not a good time for an election. Now, be good, boys and girls. Remember children: Father knows best. Be good children now. Children, as soon as daddy gets a Majority, daddy will buy you all some candies.

  • Dot

    Chet writes a lot like Cody used to.

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