Revenge Of A Duff

"Huffy Duffy sat on a wall

Huffy Duffy had a great fall

All the PM's lawyers and all the PM's men

Couldn't stop Huffy Duffy from blabbing again."

The main city courthouse is here on Elgin Street, sharing the property where one also finds the Heritage Building and City Hall buildings. Criminal and civil cases are heard in this modern nine story building, and this is the first time I've featured it by itself- it has appeared periodically in other posts at a distance, particularly from the other side. 

In Canada, television cameras are not permitted in courtrooms, so we'll never see the sort of farce that one gets in a so called trial of the century with grandstanding lawyers and a washed up football player accused of double murder infesting the airwaves. Though I imagine the story of the Brothers Ford of Toronto may yet one day involve Rob Ford in an SUV freeway chase with his brother Doug at the wheel, the former mayor smoking crack and screaming at a 911 dispatcher over the phone to tell the police to leave him alone.

Anyway, I digress. There is a trial going on here at present, the trial of a suspended senator, one Mike Duffy, appointed by the Dark Lord to the Senate. He fudged some expenses (particularly some travel expenses and the whole matter of where his primary residence is) and accepted a bribe to cover his expenses. From the former chief of staff of the aforementioned Dark Lord (otherwise known as the Prime Minister). Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, who happens to be the most paranoid control freak micro manager to ever occupy that office, claims he had no idea this happened. Yeah, right. 

The press media cameras are posted outside the entrance on Laurier Avenue each day. Reporters are inside attending the trial. Anytime anyone related to the trial comes out, the circus of cameramen follow them down the street asking questions. Such is the case below, as I was downtown the other day, photographing a round of this. First Baptist Church and the Lord Elgin Hotel, there on the corner of Elgin and Laurier, bear witness to this circus unfolding regularly through the day.

These two wait for the rest of the circus to come back. Senator Duffy (Puff Duffy to his home boys) may be a pompous blowhard and something of a villain in all this, but there's the feeling that he's been thrown under the bus by the PM, and he might be out for some payback. If by chance the Duff ends up bringing out enough political ammunition to bring down the Prime Minister... well, for once in his life, he'll have done the country a service.

And even if it's not quite enough to destroy the Dark Lord, the trial is still throwing a lot of mud on the control freak (hi, Stevie, am I on your Enemy List yet?). And that's a very good thing.