Nigel Wright, top aide to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, resigned on May 19, 2013.<\/p>\n
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s chief of staff has resigned amid an expenses scandal buffeting the government.\n<\/p>\n
Nigel Wright announced his resignation on Sunday after it was revealed on May 14 that he had secretly given a check of 90,000 Canadian dollars (about $87,000) to conservative Senator Mike Duffy, who resigned from the conservative caucus on May 16.\n<\/p>\n
The managing director of a major Canadian private equity firm, Wright issued a statement saying he had decided to quit \u00c5\u201cin light of the controversy surrounding my handling of matters involving Senator Duffy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Wright gave the money to help Duffy repay housing expenses, which the senator had improperly claimed.\n<\/p>\n
Duffy, a former journalist, received less from the conservative caucus after reports showed that he had claimed daily expenses from the Senate while campaigning for the conservatives in 2011 federal election.\n<\/p>\n
The conservative Canadian premier accepted the resignation of his top aide Wright \u00c5\u201cwith great regret.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Liberal Party Deputy Leader Ralph Goodale said, \u00c5\u201cThis stinks from beginning to end. The prime minister\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s willful blindness is a travesty. All threads lead to him and only he can provide full accountability.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Opposition lawmakers have scorned Harper administration\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s constant vow to increase accountability in Ottawa after a number of scandals brought down the previous Liberal government. <\/p>\n
According to Charlie Angus, a parliamentarian for the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), the conservatives are in \u00c5\u201cfull-out political panic\u201d as the expenses scandal is one of the biggest crises to hit Harper\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s government since he came into power in January 2006.\n<\/p>\n
In addition to the resignations of Wright and Duffy, a third conservative senator, Pamela Wallin, quit from the caucus on May 17 as she awaits the outcome of an audit into her own travel expenses.\n<\/p>\n
Opinion polls show that the conservatives in Canada are lagging behind the liberals.\n<\/p>\n
CAH\/HSN<\/p>\n<\/div>\n