Notwithstanding his defiant assertions to the contrary, Mike Duffy will almost certainly never set foot in the Conservative caucus room again. But it will take more than his departure to clear the air.

The former journalist is still drawing a Senate salary but his days as a political insider are over.

The same cannot be said of his or the government’s troubles.

Duffy leaves behind a trail of debris that will not be cleared away just by a more sweeping examination of his public spending.

Aside from Duffy’s own travails with accountability, the latest developments have exposed a systemic malaise that pervades the current government from bottom to top.

That starts with the misplaced sense of caucus solidarity that saw Conservative MPs close ranks around Duffy for so long.

Early on in the affair the embattled senator was reportedly treated to such a hero’s welcome by some of his caucus colleagues that it convinced him to dig in his heels and continue to portray himself as the victim of a media smear campaign.

Many of Duffy’s fellow Conservatives were more inclined to put themselves in his shoes than in those of the voters they represent. That herd reaction speaks to a collective loss of ethical perspective.

The fact is that in power some Conservatives have come to rue the scrutiny they so wished on the Liberals when the latter were in government. They exhibit the same sense of entitlement they used to denounce in opposition.

In the evolving government narrative about its handling of the Duffy file, the latest rationale for belatedly throwing the senator under the bus is the glaring discrepancy between his rendering of events and the surfacing facts.

But when it comes to distorting the truth, the example comes from high up.

As late as last week Conservative House leader Peter Van Loan was heaping praise on Duffy for having had the fortitude to reimburse the $90,000 housing allowance he wrongly claimed. Most voters would feel that was the least the senator could do. As it turns out he did not even do that.

Van Loan was either deliberately misrepresenting the situation or else he was kept in the dark about the truth by the prime minister’s most senior aide.

It was some months ago that Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright, cleared Duffy’s slate with a personal cheque.

To reduce it to its simplest expression, Wright’s job is to put out fires on behalf of the prime minister.

But what is one to make of a fire chief who sets fire to the station?

By writing Duffy a cheque, Wright was essentially playing with matches in the combustible air of the Prime Minister’s Office.

According the latest edition of the government’s talking points, Wright deserves a medal for having gone over and above the call of duty to protect taxpayers’ money. But if that was the rationale for his extraordinary gesture, would it not have made more sense to ask the police to look into Duffy’s spending rather than allow him to refuse to cooperate with an independent audit?

Last, but certainly not least, is the role of the prime minister in this sorry tale. The issue is not what Harper knew or when but rather the tone he has been setting inside his government.

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By now, the prime minister has made a mockery of his promise of a more accountable government. Harper’s zero tolerance approach to ethics-related matters has essentially applied to any expression of contrition on the part of the Conservatives.

Just last Monday Labrador voters came out in droves to deny ex-minister Peter Penashue the blanket absolution that he was seeking — with Harper’s blessing — for breaking the election spending rules in the 2011 election.

In less than a decade the Conservatives have added yet another layer of grime to the federal glass house. If the past week is any indication, it is making them blind to the rain of stones that they are consistently inviting upon themselves.

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