Mike Duffy trial: Crown done with final witness, setting stage for senator to testify

The Crown in the Mike Duffy trial finished with its final witness and is expected to rest its case on Tuesday, setting the stage for the senator to testify on his own behalf.

The Crown said it will present video evidence in the morning, afterwhichits case will be wrapped up. Duffy's lawyer DonaldBaynewould not sayif Duffy will testify, indicating only that hewould reveal his plansafter the Crown rested. However,Baynehas saidin the past that his client is eager to appear inthe witness box.

The Crown's final witness was DianePugliese, a former attendance administrator with the Senate who was in charge of taking the senators' attendance.

But earlier, newly appointed Speaker of the Senate George Fureytestifiedthat all senators were encouraged to seek advice if they had any questions or concerns about the propriety of claiming expenses.

Testifying as a Crown witness, Furey saidthat if those rules were not clear, senators were encouraged to seek clarity from Senate administrators or the Senate's own internal economy committee, which oversees Senate spending.

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Fureywas the Liberalmember of the Senate committee in 2013 that handled reports on the audit of expenses byDuffy and other senators.

Duffyhas pleaded not guiltyto 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed as a senator and later repaid in March 2013 with $90,000 fromNigelWright, who was chief of staff forthen prime minister Stephen Harper.

Baynepressed his case that there were no clear-cut or specific Senate rules on expenses.

"We try to get as many rules and things in place as we can, but you can't write everything down," Fureyreplied, adding that senators should "intuitively" knowwhat's proper in terms of senators'use of public funds.

But Baynehammered again, asking "Whose responsibility is it to clearly guide them?"

Furey said it'sinternal economy's responsibilityto make the policies and regulations as clearas possible

"But that does not exempt asenatorfrom theirown personal responsibility to useprobityandprudence in spending public funds," he said.

In the morning, Crown prosecutor Mark Holmes also zeroed in on some of the expenses claimed by Duffy, asking whetherFurey had ever utilized service contracts to payfor apersonal fitness trainer or a volunteer.

Furey, deputy chair of the internal economy committee,said he had not. He said there was no mechanism in the rules to pay for volunteers.Asked whether it would be an inappropriate mechanism to pay expenses associatedwith a fitness trainer, Furey said he would have to know moredetails about the claim,but in his own case, he couldn`t think of a time when it would be appropriate.

Court has heard that Duffy expensed $10,000 for sessions withapersonal fitness trainer and $500 to pay for a volunteer in his office. But Duffy's lawyer Baynehas argued that those expenses were all legitimate. The claims for the personal fitness trainer were for consultations on a project Duffy was working on in relation to fitness and seniors. And the payment to the volunteer was for Senate-related work she had done for the senator.

Duffy may testify this week

Fureyalso testified that heneverpre-signed blank travel claim forms. Hesaid his committee had told senators not to do it because it'sa poor practice. However, he said hehad no first-hand knowledgeof anyone doing it.

"Iwould not pre-sign a documentbecauseit would be open to abuse," said Furey, whoreplaced Conservative Senator LeoHousakoslast weekasSpeaker,following the Liberals' federal election win Oct. 19.

Court has also heard that Duffy had pre-signed blank travel claim forms, but Bayne has suggested Duffy's office staff was just following a system practised in other Senate offices.

The trial, which began April 7 in the Ontario court of justice, resumed Mondayafter taking a break for a few days, having heard testimony from Duffy's former colleagueGerald Donohue.