Wallin addresses the Senate

The senate spending scandal took another twist Wednesday afternoon as Senator Pamela Wallin accused the Conservative party of conducting a personal vendetta against her to rid themselves of a perceived political liability. Tuesday, her senate colleague Mike Duffy accused the party and the Prime Minister of conducting a “monstrous conspiracy” to hide the involvement of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the scandal. Scot Urquhart followed the day’s developments including some tough questions for Stephen Harper in question period and has the details.

It was Pamela Wallin`s turn at the microphone, and she made the most of it: “This charade is supposedly about preserving the reputation of this place. But the real intent is to remove a perceived liability. Namely, me.”

Wallin dismissed the Senate motion to suspend her, as well as Senators Mike Duffy, and Patrick Brazeau as the result of a vindictive personal vendetta motivated by top level conservatives: “I received a panicked phone call ordering me to resign immediately from the Conservative caucus. I think it was around 5pm eastern time and Senator Le Breton, and the Prime Minister’s principle secretary Ray Novak, said they were speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister, and now my being a part of the Conservative caucus was an embarrassment to him.”

Just before Wallin stood to speak in the Senate, the Prime Minister was defending himself against accusations that he knew all about the 90-thousand dollar cheque written to cover the questionable expenses of Senator Duffy:

Leader of the Official Opposition Tom Mulcair: “Did he order, or take part, in the motion to have Mike Duffy, Patrick Brazeau, and Pamela Wallin, suspended from the Senate? Yes, or No?”

But once again Harper stuck to his story, that he knew nothing about the scheme: “One of those people was not me. Because I obvoiusly, would never have approved such a scheme.”

Despite Harper’s bravado, and his continuing denial of any involvement in the spending scandal, at least one political analyst says the Prime Minister appears to be losing his legendary cool. Henry Jacek is with the DeGroote School of Business: “It’s clear this is the most uncomfortable he’s been, since being Prime Minister.”

Jacek says the danger for the Prime Minister is clear, and very real: “If there’s statements taken under oath, either for a court case, or by the RCMP saying that the Prime Minister did know these things, then I think before too long he’s going to be faced with the option that he really can’t go on, he’s really going to have to resign.”

But Wallin says, by that point, it may be too late for several of her Senate colleagues, who may soon find themselves in her situation: “If this keeps up, if this place continues to function without even a nod to due process, or to the rule of law, then to paraphrase Senator Siegel, eventually you could run out of buses, and the people to throw under them.”

In yet another mysterious twist to this story, the person who Senator Wallin accused of leading the vendetta against her, Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen, resigned her position on the Senate Committee that oversaw the audits involving Wallin and Duffy Wednesday.

The reasons were not immediately clear, but Stewart Olsen has also been accused of wrongly claiming more than $4,000 in Senate expenses, a charge which she denies. Nevertheless, one of the key players that pushed Wallin out of the Conservative caucus is now on the sidelines as well! So there will be a lot of people who will be watching carefully for the “buses” rolling across Parliament Hill.