By Canadian Press

Mike Duffy appeals to Supreme Court in bid to sue Senate

Oct 21, 2020 | 12:11 PM

OTTAWA — Sen. Mike Duffy is filing an appeal to the country’s top court in the hopes the Supreme Court of Canada will let him sue the Senate from a years-old spending scandal.

Duffy is seeking $7.8 million in damages from the Senate, RCMP and the federal government for a high-profile investigation into his expenses and subsequent suspension without pay for nearly two years.

Two lower-court decisions said the upper chamber’s decision to suspend Duffy is protected by parliamentary privilege, meaning the courts do not have jurisdiction to rule on matters decided by the Senate.

In a filing today, Duffy’s lawyers argue the Supreme Court must weigh in on the limits of parliamentary privilege and whether they were overstepped when the Prince Edward Island senator was suspended.

They say the issue of national importance, requiring the top court’s attention.

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Duffy was named to the Senate on the advice of then-prime minister Stephen Harper in 2008. He left the Conservative caucus in May 2013 and now sits with the Independent Senators Group.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020.

The Canadian Press