Ex-PMO aide Carson left Calgary school with debt
Taxpayer funded think-tank suspends most programs in wake of revelations
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former senior adviser, Bruce Carson, charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses to the federally funded think-tank he headed for just over two years.
Robert Turner, a prominent Edmonton lawyer and chairman of the Canada School of Energy and Environment's board of directors, says that in one month alone Carson charged almost $28,000 in personal expenses to the school's corporate credit card, which is supposed to be used only for business.
Turner said the board has simply written off about $15,000 of taxpayers' money that Carson spent on personal travel and other expenses during his last month on the job.
The school — a think-tank set up at the University of Calgary with a $15-million federal grant — withheld another $13,000 it owed Carson when he left under a cloud of controversy in March.
Turner is the first prominent insider to reveal what went on behind the scenes when the Carson scandal engulfed Stephen Harper's government on the eve of this year's federal election.
Carson is already under investigation for possible influence-peddling and illegal lobbying last year in a failed attempt to land federal contracts for a shady company employing his then girlfriend, a former escort.
Once among Harper's most trusted advisers, Carson has a long history of personal money problems, including fraud convictions and personal bankruptcy.
He left the Prime Minister's Office in 2008 to head up the publicly funded Canada School of Energy and Environment.
Carson left the school in disgrace after the lobbying scandal broke in March.
Ex-PMO aide Carson left Calgary school with debt
Taxpayer funded think-tank suspends most programs in wake of revelations
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former senior adviser, Bruce Carson, charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses to the federally funded think-tank he headed for just over two years.
Robert Turner, a prominent Edmonton lawyer and chairman of the Canada School of Energy and Environment's board of directors, says that in one month alone Carson charged almost $28,000 in personal expenses to the school's corporate credit card, which is supposed to be used only for business.
Turner said the board has simply written off about $15,000 of taxpayers' money that Carson spent on personal travel and other expenses during his last month on the job.
The school — a think-tank set up at the University of Calgary with a $15-million federal grant — withheld another $13,000 it owed Carson when he left under a cloud of controversy in March.
Turner is the first prominent insider to reveal what went on behind the scenes when the Carson scandal engulfed Stephen Harper's government on the eve of this year's federal election.
Carson is already under investigation for possible influence-peddling and illegal lobbying last year in a failed attempt to land federal contracts for a shady company employing his then girlfriend, a former escort.
Once among Harper's most trusted advisers, Carson has a long history of personal money problems, including fraud convictions and personal bankruptcy.
He left the Prime Minister's Office in 2008 to head up the publicly funded Canada School of Energy and Environment.
Carson left the school in disgrace after the lobbying scandal broke in March.
Ex-PMO aide Carson left Calgary school with debt
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