Volume 88 | Issue 1 | obiter-dicta.ca
The Definitive Source for Osgoode News since 1928
Monday, August 31, 2015
LEGAL SANCTION
the role of lawyers in the
duffy scandal
ê Photo credit: cbc.ca
esther mendelsohn › staff writer
A
recent analysis of Twitter data found that
Stephen Harper’s name was mentioned more
times in connection with the Mike Duffy
trial than the economy. This does not
bode well for Mr. Harper, considering his campaign
message has been centred on the Conservative Party’s
economic record. It is clear that the trial of former
Senator Mike Duffy has eclipsed the PC campaign
message.
The Duffy affair certainly raises some interesting questions, and each new revelation seems to be
more troubling than the one preceding it. No one’s
hands seem to be completely clean and there seem
to be serious ethical infractions on all sides—allegedly. Particularly disturbing is the role lawyers have
played in this story, and the legal community should
be especially concerned.
Regardless of where you fall on the political
spectrum, the possibility that lawyers facilitated a
fraud, a bribe, a breach of trust, or a cover-up—however you care to label it—should be a cause for alarm.
Even if what was done was not, strictly speaking,
illegal, it was at the very least ethically problematic.
Everyone involved in this story is intelligent, highly
educated, experienced, and accustomed to moving in
the most elite circles of political power; ignorant and
naïve they are certainly not. Nor can they be absolved
because they consulted lawyers. The involvement of
lawyers, however, is very troubling, indeed.
Often, those in power and with the means to
shop around for lawyers will actively seek out lawyers who will tell them what they want to hear and
sanction otherwise indefensible positions. They may
» see duffy, page 13
In this Issue ...
editorial
Ashley Madison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
news
Parkdale Unionized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
opinion
2024 Olympic Bid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
arts & culture
Jurisfoodence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
sports
Toronto Blue Jays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11