What would 2005 Stephen Harper say about the antics of his government today?

You'll recall that Harper was elected on a platform deeply soaked in rhetoric about transparency and accountability.

On Tuesday morning, that Stephen Harper was no where to be seen.

In an address to his caucus, Harper said that he wasn't happy with the recent Senate scandals and that he would work with his Senate leadership to fast track new expense rules.

[ Related: Harper addresses his caucus about Senate scandals: 'I’m not happy' ]

And yes, during his 10 minute speech he did use the word 'accountability' 8 times.

But when it came to walking the talk, Harper fell short.

He didn't mention Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin or Nigel Wright, the three figures — that he handpicked — at the centre of the scandal.

He failed to say anything about the $90,000 gift that his now-former Chief of Staff Wright gave to Duffy. He didn't say whether or not the PMO had a hand in whitewashing the Senate report about Duffy, as reported by CTV

Stephen Harper has made what was probably one of the most important speeches during his tenure as prime minister.

On Tuesday morning, Harper addressed his caucus amid the ongoing Senate expense scandal that has dominated headlines and social media over the past week.

"I don't think any of you are going to be very surprised to hear that I'm not happy," he said.

"I'm very upset about some conduct we witnessed, the conduct of some Parliamentarians and the conduct of my own office."

[ Related: Why Stephen Harper should be held accountable for Senate scandals]

Harper spent a lot of time touting his government's actions in strengthening accountability rules since coming into office in 2006. He had this message for his MPs and Senators in the audience.

"As I said in the room across the hall in the Fall of 2005, when we first pledged to bring in the federal accountability act ... no government will be perfect because none of us are perfect,'" he said.

"Let me repeat something else I said in that same

Another week, another political ad.

This time, it's the New Democrats' turn.

Interestingly, they didn't choose to rail against the Conservatives for the Senate scandals or losing track of $3.1 billion or for muzzling of scientists or backbenchers.

[ Related: Liberals launch new campaign to counter Tory attack ads ]

Like the Liberals, they decided to go positive.

The ad — currently on YouTube — is a condensed version of a video shown at the NDP convention in April.

Clearly, the NDP is trying to soften Thomas Mulcair's persona: it's trying to show him as an experienced politician and a family man. The party's trying to nix the Tory narrative which dubs him as Angry Tom.

[ Related: Thomas Mulcair's so so first year as NDP leader ]

"People got to know Jack [Layton] over 10 years. We don’t have as much time to introduce Tom to Canada before the next election — and the stakes are too high this time for us," Nathan Rotman, the party's national director, told the Huffington Post last month.

"We have

James Moore in Parliament

If there was any doubt: Conservative MP James Moore says that he isn't launching a campaign for the Conservative Party leadership.

[ Related: Nigel Wright, PM's top aide resigns: Is the government in crisis? ]

Speculation — or perhaps amusement — about Moore doing so started Saturday when the Twittersphere noticed that he had launched a sharp new website separate from his MP website.

Heritage Minister James Moore has set up something uncannily similar to a leadership campaign website. jamesmoore.org/frontpage/ #cdnpoli #CPC

— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) May 19, 2013

Does Jason Kenney know? @natnewswatch: Interesting... @jamesmoore_orghas launched a new website jamesmoore.org — Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) May 19, 2013

And then on Sunday, a new 'James Moore Leadership Campaign' Facebook page popped-up.

That was the impetus of even more Twitter chatter:

Anyone have any idea why there is a James Moore CPC Leadership Campaign facebook page? #cdnpoli facebook.com/JamesMooreLead…

— Brad Rubinoff

Nigel WrightAnother one bites the dust.

Nigel Wright, Stephen Harper's chief of staff, has become the latest Conservative causality in the ongoing Senate expense saga.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister's Office admitted that Wright personally funded Senator Mike Duffy’s repayment of more than $90,000 in improperly-claimed living expenses.

On Thursday, Duffy resigned from the Tory caucus over the scandal. On Friday Senator Pamela Wallin — who is still being audited for her travel expense claims — followed suit.

And on Sunday, Wright resigned from the PMO.

"My actions were intended solely to secure the repayment of funds, which I considered to be in the public interest, and I accept sole responsibility," Wright said in a statement according to the Canadian Press.

"I did not advise the prime minister of the means by which Sen. Duffy's expenses were repaid, either before or after the fact."

[ Related: PM's deep-pocketed chief of staff quits amid Duffy fallout ]

No one should shed a tear for Wright, a

Stephen Harper (Patrick Doyle,Canadian Press)

UPDATE: The prime minister's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, has announced early on Sunday morning that he is stepping down following the controversy with Mike Duffy.  

On Friday, Senator Pamela Wallin excused herself from the Conservative caucus becoming the third scandal-plagued Tory senator to be pushed out in recent months.

According to Post Media News, Stephen Harper is "losing his patience" at the ongoing tumult.

Cue the cheesy 1980s sitcom laugh track.

Harper is the one who handpicked the three maligned senators — Wallin, Mike Duffy, and Patrick Brazeau — not because of their service to community or intellect but for their loyal partisanship.

What the heck did he expect? It's time that he takes responsibility for the senate shenanigans.

[ Related: Sen. Pamela Wallin latest to leave Conservative caucus ]

Ironically, for much of his adult life, Harper spent a lot of time publicly slamming the red chamber.

We've all heard his quotes. The Regina Leader-Post's Murray Mandryk recently did a

(Interview starts at 13:08)

In recent months, we've seen Stephen Harper conduct more long-form interviews.

It's actually a smart strategy: In these types of interviews, the prime minister comes across very intelligent, articulate and personable.

In his most recent Q & A interview — at an address to the Council of Foreign Relations on Thursday in New York City — Harper talked about why President Obama should approve the Keystone XL pipeline, about what keeps him up at night and about greater economic integration with the United States.

If you don't have an hour to spend to watch the whole video above, here are some of the highlights of what he had to say.

About balancing environmental concerns with the development of the oil sands:

Oil sands -- first of all, one needs to put this in a global perspective. Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of global emissions are in the oil sands. And so it -- it's, you know, almost nothing globally.

We've had a 25 percent reduction over the past decade or so in

Mike Duffy's troubles continue to mount.

CBC News is reporting that the Senate Finance Committee may again review Duffy's expenses following a Canadian Press story which alleged that he was claiming Senate expenses while campaigning for the Conservatives in 2011.

"In light of yesterday's media reports regarding Senator Duffy's expense claims, senators will be asking that the report concerning Senator Duffy be referred back to committee for further examination taking into account this new information," a spokesperson for Marjory LeBreton, leader of the government in the Senate, told CBC.

Duffy was forced to resign from the Conservative caucus Thursday evening after it was learned that Nigel Wright, the prime minister's chief of staff, personally funded Duffy's repayment of $90,000 in improperly-claimed living expenses.

[ Related: Senator Mike Duffy resigns from the Conservative caucus ]

Duffy's resignation will serve as a brief respite for the Tories, who were undoubtedly feeling the public