OTTAWA — A former intern in Mike Duffy’s office who now works for the prime minister has testified she got a $500 cheque from a company run by a friend of the suspended senator.
Ashley Cain tells Duffy’s trial that a connection helped her in 2010 to get the internship, during which she spent a few hours each week helping to open the mail and file business cards.
Cain says she took the job with the understanding it was unpaid, but about midway through her time, Duffy said he would find a way to pay her for her good work.
She then received a cheque for $500 from Maple Ridge Media, a company run by Duffy’s friend Gerald Donohue.
She says she didn’t know the company or Donohue, but assumed the cheque was the money Duffy talked about.
Duffy faces 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery and the Crown alleges that he filtered money through Donohue’s company to get around Senate expense rules.
Duffy defence lawyer Donald Bayne argues that the work Cain did was legitimate Senate business.
Cain testified, however, that she never signed any employment forms or passed a security clearance, which the court was told earlier were requirements for Senate workers.
Cain is the third witness to testify for the Crown since the trial began last week.
Unlike the previous two, who were on the stand for days, Cain’s testimony took less than an hour.