Mike Duffy

The Honourable Mike Duffy
Senator from Prince Edward Island
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2, 2009
Nominated by	Stephen Harper
Appointed by	Michaëlle Jean
Personal details
Born	Michael Dennis Duffy (1946-05-27) May 27, 1946 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Political party	Independent Senators Group
Other political affiliations	Non-affiliated (2013-2016) Conservative (2009-2013)
Spouse(s)	Nancy Duffy (divorced) Heather Duffy (m. 1992)[1]
Profession	Television journalist
Signature

Michael Dennis "Mike" Duffy (born May 27, 1946) is a Canadian senator and former Canadian television journalist. Prior to his appointment to the upper house in 2008, he was the Ottawa editor for CTV News Channel.

Early life and journalism career

Mike Duffy was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to Lillian and Wilfrid Duffy, and is the grandson of Gavan Duffy, a PEI Liberal MLA and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.^[2]

Duffy studied humanities at St. Dunstan's College.^[2] He became a ham radio operator at the age of 16 and began his career as a teen disc jockey at CFCY-TV. He moved to print journalism with The Guardian in Charlottetown, before heading to CFCF in Montreal as a lineup and assignment editor in 1969, and in 1971 he joined CFRA radio in Ottawa as a political reporter.

Duffy joined CBC radio's Parliament Hill bureau in 1974, and became a reporter for The National in 1977. Duffy became the lead CBC television reporter on Parliament Hill and covered most of the important federal stories of the Trudeau, Clark and Mulroney governments. Duffy is primarily known for his work as an Ottawa journalist, but he has been a foreign correspondent. He covered the fall of South Vietnam in April 1975 and was one of the last journalists to leave before the arrival of North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong insurgents.

In 1988, Duffy joined Baton Broadcasting as the first host of its Sunday morning news program Sunday Edition based in Ottawa. When that series ended in 1999, Duffy moved to his role as a show host and interviewer with CTV Newsnet (now the CTV News Channel). Long known as an "Ottawa insider", he was able to get many elected officials to appear on his programs. Duffy hosted two programs on CTV Newsnet, Countdown with Mike Duffy and Mike Duffy Live.

Awards and honours

In 1986 he won an ACTRA Award for live television reporting, for his coverage of the 1985 Turkish embassy attack in Ottawa by the Armenian Revolutionary Army.^[3] In 1994, Duffy was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.^[3][4]

Duffy has received honorary degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island, as well as Wilfrid Laurier University and from Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York.^[5] He has been a visiting fellow at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, and has been twice nominated for the "best in the business" award by the Washington Journalism Review.^[5]

In 2002, he was awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.^[6]

Political career

On December 22, 2008, Duffy was named a Prince Edward Island representative to the Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sitting as a Conservative.^[5][7] He subsequently retired as a TV journalist at the end of 2008. He was introduced to the Senate on 26 January 2009 immediately prior to the Speech from the Throne.^[8]

Expenses controversy

In 2012, Duffy was one of four senators accused of claiming primary residency outside of Ottawa in order to claim living expenses for time working in Ottawa.^[9] In his trial decision, Judge Vaillancourt said Duffy had no choice in the matter, as he had been appointed to represent Prince Edward Island in the Senate^[10] On February 28, 2013, the Senate Committee on the Internal Economy announced that Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Mac Harb, and Patrick Brazeau would be subject to a forensic audit to determine appropriateness of their expense claims.^[11] After several weeks of negative public attention Duffy, despite believing he was entitled to claim the PEI residence,^[10] volunteered to pay back the expenses he had claimed for his Ottawa residence. ^[12] In late February 2013, it was alleged that special counsel and legal adviser Benjamin Perrin drafted a letter of understanding between Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, Nigel Wright and Duffy.^[13] Perrin denied involvement in a May 2013 statement.^[14][15] Wright then wrote a personal cheque to Duffy for $90,172 to cover past residency expenses claimed as part of the agreement with the PMO. A Conservative Party spokesman confirmed the money was a gift with no expectation of repayment.^[16] Duffy then repaid the Government of Canada $90,172 in March 2013 for expenses previously claimed. In May 2013, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada confirmed it was investigating Wright's gift of $90,172 to Duffy.^[17] Duffy resigned from the Conservative caucus on May 16, 2013, and became an independent senator.^[18] On November 5, 2013 the Senate voted to suspend Duffy without pay for two years.^[19]

Criminal charges

On July 17, 2014 Duffy was charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with 31 offences.^[20] Duffy was acquitted of all charges on 21 April 2016 and immediately resumed his seat in the Senate.^[10]

References

External links

• MikeDuffy.ca - Official Site
• Leger, Dan (2014). Duffy: From Stardom to Senate to Scandal. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 9781771081467. 
• Parliament of Canada biography