Mike Duffy trial: Contracts approved after work completed, court hears
At the Mike Duffy trial today court heard that some contracts are approved after work has been completed and that in other cases, it's left to Senators to approximate the value of the work.
On the seventh day of the trial in provincial court in Ottawa, defence lawyer Donald Bayne continued to hammer away at the rules governing Senate contracts.
Bayne was reviewing with Sonia Makhlouf, a Senate human resources official, two of four contracts totalling nearly $65,000 that had been made with the firm of the suspended senator's friend, Gerald Donohue. Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed as a senator and later repaid with money provided by the prime minister's former chief of staff.
One of the contracts for editorial and writing services, was for $10,000, and to be completed between Feb. 23 and March 31, 2009.
On Wednesday, Bayne pointed out that, according to documents, human resources received the contract at the end of March, around the time the work would have been completed and the contract was set to expire. He also noted that, according to administration policy, contracts are supposed to be approved before work begins.
Makhlouf explained that senators would sometimes submit requests after the start date of a contract. Human resources, she said, would advise senators that next time they would "appreciate you send your request earlier."
But she insisted that Senate administration had a "legal obligation" to pay the contract.
Bayne said the guidelines and policies may be one thing, "but the practices are another." "Yes." Makhlouf replied.
On another contract with Donohue's firm, Duffy had written that the total cost was to be determined because it was based on an hourly rate. But Duffy was informed by another human resources officer (not Makhlouf) that a contract needs an actual amount.
Bayne said that human resources officer was basically telling Duffy he could give an approximate amount, and if he went over that amount he could modify it and put in another amount.
"That again is evidence of the degree of discretion all these senators have," he said. "Just put an amount in there and you can change it up or down later."
"Yes," Makhlouf replied.
On Tuesday, Bayne peppered Makhlouf with questions about senators' office budgets, and got her to concede that senators have broad administrative discretion when it comes to deciding how to use their office budgets, including who they can hire and the duties of their researchers.
But he also zeroed in on the research contracts themselves, and the lack of oversight relating to, as he put it, "whether the work was done, what was done, who did [the work], whether there was value for money for the taxpayer."
Makhlouf also noted that only basic information is provided in contracts, including a couple of lines describing the services to be provided, and the signature of the senator. She said human resource and finance officials are often left in the dark about the work done because it's all carried out at the discretion of the senator.
On Monday, Makhlouf's testimony was used by the Crown to build its case alleging the suspended senator charged taxpayers for non-Senate business through contracts with his friend, Gerald Donohue. Those services included payments to a volunteer, a makeup artist and a personal trainer, and for an enlarged photo of family members and one of Barbara Bush.
Makhlouf had testified that Senate contracts would not be awarded based on those services because none of them would be considered parliamentary work.
But Bayne challenged some of that testimony Tuesday, referring to the Senators' handbook on the use of Senate resources. He said those guidelines clearly state that items such as advertising, publicity, film development and photographic services can all be properly billed as expenses.
