For the last 10 days of 2015, the Angus Reid Institute is counting down our top 10 stories of the year, based on the total number of page views they received at angusreid.org. This is number 4.
The roots of the Senate scandal that kept former senator Mike Duffy in court for most of the year can be traced to 2012, when Duffy and three other senators (Pamela Wallin, Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau) were accused of improperly claiming expenses. Duffy was subsequently charged with 31 counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery.
In April, as the trial was beginning, the Angus Reid Institute asked Canadians about the future of the Senate as a Canadian institution, and found that the vast majority want something other than the status quo. Respondents were split fairly evenly between saying the Senate should be reformed (45%) and saying it should be abolished (41%).
When the trial heated up in August, another ARI survey focused on then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reported role in the scandal, and its possible election implications. At the time, some 59 per cent of Canadians said they didn’t believe the prime minister’s version of events, but most (72%) said that even if they didn’t believe Harper other issues would outweigh this scandal when they thought about who to vote for.
Read the full stories here:
August 20, 2015: The Duffy trial: Senate scandal testimony threatens Harper’s fortunes among soft Conservative voters
April 7, 2015: Future of the Senate: Majority of Canadians split between abolishing, reforming the Red Chamber
Image Credit: Ottawa Sun