Mike Duffy insists all his travel claims are legit, denies billing for dog show

Senator Mike Duffydenied Crown allegations that he billedtaxpayersto attend a dog show or visit his family in Vancouver, insisting repeatedlyhe never inappropriately expensed travel claims that are nowthe focus of his criminal trial.

Duffy's lawyer Donald Bayne spent most of the day going through with his client the series of travel expenses the Crown allegesDuffy illegally claimed.Baynerepeatedly asked Duffy if he ever, at any time, had attempted to deceive or defraud the Senate. Duffy said never, insisting that all his tripswere for legitimate Senate business.

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Duffy has 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 at the time waschief of staff for Prime Minister StephenHarper. The trial began in April at the Ottawa provincial courthouse.

The Crown contends that some of the tripsthat Duffy expensed were for partisan activitiesor for personal matters, andthat Duffy shouldn't have claimed these expenses.

Among those are a $698travelclaimDuffy expensed for a trip to Peterborough in 2010.The Crown alleges that Duffy came to town to attend a dog show and to inquire about purchasing a dog.

'Were you shopping for a dog?'

At an earlier point in the trial,court heard fromDean Del Mastro, who was the MP for the area. Del Mastro testifiedthat he met with Duffy, whotold him he was in town for a dog show.

But under questioning from Bayne, Duffy contradicted Del Mastro's testimony. He said he had never heard about the dog show and that he had been invited to Peterborough by Del Mastroto speak to a Christian broadcasterthat had been struggling.

Del Mastro was parliamentary secretary to the heritage minister.Duffy, who wanted money to fix up the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Charlottetown, said heagreed to goin part because hethought it was a good opportunity to lobby Del Mastrofor federal funds for the arts centre.

Duffy said when he got thereDel Mastrotold himthe broadcastingissue had been resolved. Instead, he wanted to talk to Duffy about an idea for a Parliament Hill online "Dean and Mike" show.

While there, Duffy said Del Mastro also suggested they go to the dog show. But Duffy said he never bought a dog there, or inquired about purchasing a dog there. He said he went to the different booths to meet people.

"Did you get any dog at the Peterborough dog show?" Bayne asked.

"No," Duffy said

"Were you shopping for a dog?"

"No," Duffy repeated.

Bayne also questioned Duffy about a travelexpense claim for a luncheon in B.C.at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club in 2012hosted by Conservative MP Andrew Saxton and his father,Andrew Saxton Sr., a prominent B.C. businessman.

The Crown alleges that for this trip to B.C.Duffyexpensed nearly $4,500 and spent days with his family.

But Duffy testified that the purpose of the luncheon wasfor pre-budget consultations with prominent city leaders, including Saxton Sr., who was known as a "day-oner"someone who supported Harper when he ran for the Canadian Alliance leadership.

Duffy said the PMO had told Duffy to be nice to SaxtonSr.as he was one of the party's founding fathers. Duffy testified thatthe assembled guestswere mostly concerned about pipelines and thathe wrote to Nigel Wright afterward toreportwhat they had discussed at the lunch.

'1of the most important meetings'

"It was probably one of the most important meetings I have ever had in all my years as a senator,"Duffy testified.

Earlier, Duffy testifiedabouthis role atvariousevents he attended atthe behest of Conservative MPs.He insisted he was conducting Senate businessat all of these appearances.

Duffy said there may have been a partisan aspect to some of theevents such as fundraising for a localcandidate.But he said that for allof these events, he spoke aboutissues relating topublic business and government policies, including the Conservative economic action plan.

Baynehas previously argued that the definition of partisan activitiesin the Senate administrative rules is extremely broad and ambiguous.

Duffy, because of his years as a TV journalist, said he was a much sought after speaker forthese events.

"I never really referred to this as fundraising," Duffy said."[Conservative Senator] Irving Gerstein has a machine that raises money," Duffy testified. "I'm there to friend raise."

Duffy testified earlier this week that when he was approached to become a senator,Harper's executive assistant,Jeremy Hunt, told him that the Conservatives were looking to appoint people with a national profile like Duffy to "expand the pool of accessible voters" in order to win a majority government.

What they were trying to do, Duffy testified, was to put people in the Senate who would provide "third-party validation" for Stephen Harper as someone Canadians could trust.

Duffy said that people at these events would want to speak to him about different issues, but they also wanted to have their picture taken with him.