By Jorge Barrera and Kenneth Jackson
APTN National News
OTTAWA–The Prime Minister’s Office said the court should “throw the book” at Bruce Carson, a former aide to Stephen Harper, if he’s found guilty of influence peddling.
The RCMP said Friday that Carson had been charged with one count of “fraud on the government,” otherwise known as influence peddling.
Andrew MacDougall, a spokesperson for the PMO, said Carson’s activities probed by police happened “after he was in our office” and did not taint the image of the Conservative government.
“This stuff happened after he was in our office,” said MacDougall. “Anyone who violates the law should be punished…they should have the book thrown at them if the violate the law.”
The RCMP said they initiated their investigation into Carson’s activities following a referral from the PMO in March 2011. The PMO’s referral was triggered by an APTN National News investigation into Carson’s lobbying activities for an Ottawa-based water company.
The RCMP said Carson is alleged to have “accepted a commission for a third party in connection with a business matter relating to the government.”
Carson is scheduled to appear in Ottawa court on Sept. 10.
Carson is presumed innocent.
The investigation discovered that Carson, who once was a senior aide in the PMO, was promoting the company, H2O Pros, to Aboriginal Affairs bureaucrats.
The company, however, had a financial arrangement with a woman named Michele McPherson, a former Ottawa escort who was then engaged to Carson.
Carson witnessed and initialled the agreement guaranteeing 20 per cent of gross profits the company made off the sale of water filtration systems to First Nations reserves suffering from the dirty water.
Patrick Hill, the president of the company, which is now bankrupt, has since come under an OPP investigation.
The Carson affair exploded in the run up to last year’s May 2 election, which ended with a majority government for the Conservatives.
Ottawa Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, one of the government’s staunchest defenders during the still unfolding robocalls scandal, seemed at a loss for words when approached by a reporter about the RCMP’s charge against Carson.
When asked what about the charges, Poilievre looked down at his BlackBerry and said, “I have to get this.”
Questions still linger as to how Carson managed to get into the PMO with five criminal convictions on his record. Carson was also disbarred in the 1980s and declared bankruptcy in 1993.
The Privy Council Office said it had tightened its security screening for staffers after it emerged Carson received secret level clearance despite his spotted record.
Carson’s lawyer, Patrick McCann could not be reached for comment.
More to come
harpo is trying to make it look like he’s cracking down on corruption. Unfortunate for him no one is buying it as long as the likes of Toes, Del Asstro, MacKay and Oda go unpunished.