Mike Duffy's lawsuit over dismissal refused by the courts

   Canada column for Sunday, Dec. 16/18

   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Senator Mike Duffy’s $8-million lawsuit against the Senate has been dismissed by an Ontario Superior Court judge.

   Justice Sally Gomery said that allowing a court to revisit the Senate’s decision to dismiss Duffy on accusations of improper spending would “interfere with the Senate's ability to function as an independent legislative body.”

   He was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in 2016 and launched the lawsuit claiming his constitutional rights were abused in pursuit of a scapegoat during a Senate expenses’ scandal.

   In particular, Duffy, who represents Prince Edward Island, said the disciplinary action to suspend him and cut his pay and benefits before the criminal investigation was completed was “an unprecedented abuse of power.”

   His lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said the judge relied on a “centuries-old concept” of parliamentary privilege to rule that protections in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms don’t apply to senators.

   Duffy said he will continue with a similar lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

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   Housing prices are predicted to rise moderately next year, up 1.2 percent nationally.

   Royal LePage expects prices to rise by 1.3 percent to an average of $854,552 in the Greater Toronto Area.

   The other pricey market, Greater Vancouver, is expected to see a 0.6 percent increase for an average house price of $1.29 million.

   Montreal and area should have the largest increase for big cities at 3percent to $421,306 next year.

   The slowing of price jumps is the result of rising interest rates, global trade risks and the low price of Canadian crude oil, the company says.

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   News in brief:

   - The Canadian post office is finding fewer people are using the mail after postal workers were ordered back to work, ending five weeks of rotating strikes. Canada Post is sorting through 6-million parcels and letters and hired 4,000 seasonal employees and took on 2,000 additional vehicles. Mediator Elizabeth MacPherson is working to find an agreement for the 50,000 workers. To try to catch up, parcels are being delivered seven days a week.

   - Ontario politicians are being recalled for a special session on Monday to zap a threatened strike by 6,000 Ontario Power Generation workers. The Power Workers’ Union gave notice to strike after rejecting its “final” offer. The government intends to enact a back-to-work bill to keep them on the job. “We want to assure all people of Ontario, families and businesses that we’re going to take swift action to resolve this matter,” said Energy Minister Greg Rickford.

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   Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is lower at 74.7 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.338 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

   The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 1.75 percent while the prime-lending rate is 3.95 percent.

   Stock markets are lower, with the Toronto exchange index at 14,595 points while the TSX Venture index is 555 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is lower at $1.05 a liter or $3.99 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto 6/49: (Dec. 12) 10, 13, 23, 27, 31 and 42; bonus 17. (Dec. 8) 4, 13, 25, 33, 41 and 49; bonus 1. Lotto Max: (Dec. 7) 2, 9, 15, 23, 26, 30 and 41; bonus 13.

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   Regional briefs:

   - There are dire warnings of “life-threatening” avalanches throughout much of British Columbia’s backcountry. Avalanche Canada issued the special warning after a series of storms dumped large amounts of snow and rain. People accessing higher elevation terrain should be particularly careful, including skiers and snowboarders going out of bounds and snowmobilers riding at or above the treeline, it warned.

   - Right up there with New Brunswick family business tycoons the Irvings and the McCains is Cooke Aquaculture Inc. Located in tiny Black’s Harbour, this is another of the province’s family-owned multinationals that’s now the world’s largest independent seafood company. It has billions of dollars in annual revenue and ships one billion pounds of fresh seafood annually to 67 countries. Now, the firm with 6,000 employees and 2,000 of them in New Brunswick is buying one of the largest shrimp farming companies in Latin America.

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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com