APTN National News
The trial of a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been pushed back to Sept. 14, according to an Ottawa court official.
Bruce Carson, who was once an acting chief of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, was scheduled to stand trial Sept. 8 on a charge of influence peddling.
It’s unclear why the date was changed. A call to the Crown’s office was not returned.
Carson was charged following an APTN National News investigation into his lobbying activities on behalf of an Ottawa-based water filtration company that had a struck a side-deal with Carson’s fiancée, a former escort. The deal guaranteed the woman a large cut of filtration system sales to First Nation reserves suffering from water woes.
Carson is also facing three charges of illegal lobbying and a charge of influence peddling from a separate RCMP investigation into his activities on behalf of the Canada School of Energy and Environment (CSEE) and the Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC).
Carson headed the CSEE which was given $15 million by the Harper government.
Carson was deeply involved in helping promote Canada’s tar sands and developing a national energy strategy.
Carson once brought an escort to a party at the prime minister’s residence on 24 Sussex Dr. The escort, who had been previously deported from the United States following a criminal conviction for involvement in a prostitution ring, struck up a conversation about underwear with Harper during the party. Harper reportedly blushed.
@APTNNews
