Duffy is promising to release more details about his deal with the prime minister’s former chief of staff and an apparent white-wash of a report into the matter.

He says that day will come very soon. “I’d be happy to cooperate with anyone who’s doing an investigation. I think Canadians have a right to know all the facts.”

“There are bits and pieces out there and it should all be put together in one place. There will be some place to do that,” he adds.

The Senate committee that originally started the investigation into his expenses is re-examining his expenses. Duffy is hoping that investigation won’t be done behind closed doors. “Of course it needs to be done in public.”

The committee is apparently the same one that helped white-wash the final report that was tabled in the Senate.

Duffy resigned from the Conservative caucus last week after it was revealed he accepted a personal cheque from Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Harper’s chief of staff, worth $90,000 to pay for inappropriate expense claims.

A number of Conservative MPs, including Heritage Minister James Moore, have said Duffy should quit his $132,000-a-year appointment.

Mark Towhey said he did not resign but his departure had not come as a shock to him.

“The mayor and I spoke about it this afternoon,” Towhey said as reporters trailed him through the underground parking lot.

Towhey refused to elaborate on the conversation or say what advice he had given Ford about the alleged cellphone video.

“My conversations with the mayor are between the mayor and me,” Towhey said.

“My advice to the mayor is my advice to the mayor.”

Last week, both the American-based website Gawker.com and the Toronto Star reported they had seen — but not obtained — a video made by a west-end drug dealer who was shopping it around for six figures.

Gawker has been trying to raise $200,000 to buy and post the video, reaching more than $135,000 by Thursday afternoon.

The website did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on its “crackstarter campaign.”

Neither of the reports about the video has been independently verified and the Star itself said it could not vouch for its authenticity.

Ford has said little about the allegations, beyond calling them “ridiculous” and suggesting the Star was out to get him.

Towhey’s departure comes a day after the Toronto District Catholic School Board announced it had dropped Ford as volunteer coach of his favourite high school football team, the Don Bosco Eagles.

Ford, who allegedly referred to the players disparagingly in the video, has long cited the team as an example of his selfless dedication to others.

The Catholic board made no reference to the crack cocaine allegations, saying only it had decided a new direction was needed.

Also on Wednesday, Ford’s brother, Coun. Doug Ford, gave a statement in which he lashed out at the media and defended his brother.

“Rob is telling me these stories are untrue, that these accusations are ridiculous,” Ford said. “And I believe him.”

The councillor said his brother has stayed silent on advice of his family and lawyers, and would let the media know if and when he had anything to say.

Police have only said they were monitoring the situation.

Mark Towhey left city hall a short while ago escorted by security.

He did not say why he was no longer Ford’s chief of staff, but said it followed discussions earlier in the day with the mayor.

He said his leaving did not come as a shock.

Towhey refused to say what advice he had given Ford about an alleged videotape that apparently shows the mayor smoking crack cocaine.

Ford has been dogged by the allegations for almost a week, but has said little about them, beyond calling them “ridiculous.”

Importers of televisions are already on the hook for about $16 million in retroactive duties from 2011 after last year’s crackdown on a particular tariff exemption that has become a political football.

Electronics brought to Canada under exemption 9948 are supposed to be used continuously for four years while hooked up to a computer, and importers are required to provide an “end-user certificate” proving that’s how each device was used.

No such end-user certificates for consumer electronics exist, something officials at the Canada Border Services Agency have acknowledged in internal emails.

Now a coalition of importers says it has documents that prove border officials allowed them to import products duty-free, knowing the government would claim the tariffs and penalty costs at a later date.

For a Conservative government that once made political hay out of accusing the New Democrats of planning an iPod tax, the new levies on electronic goods could prove embarrassing.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty insisted this spring that iPods would continue to enjoy tariff exemptions under 9948. However specific CBSA rulings have already determined that iPods require the same non-existent end-use certificate.

Flaherty appeared to take a tougher line Wednesday evening at a Commons committee hearing.

“You’re talking about a process problem,” he told Liberal MP Scott Brison, who asked directly if iPod importers required the certificates.

“Substantively, there is no tax on iPods. And end-user certificates have been required for a long, long time over a large range of products,” said Flaherty.

“Some vendors have obeyed the law and some haven’t. And some who haven’t obeyed the law have found themselves in some difficulty. That’s what happens.”

Ken Buschlen, vice-president of finance for Panasonic Canada, says his company and others rely on the Canada Border Services Agency to act in good faith with its advance tariff rulings.

“CBSA issued us authorization to import products duty-free, but it now appears the CBSA intended to claw back the duties later. This is clearly unfair,” Buschlen says in a news release.

The coalition bases its claims on hundreds of pages of government emails it received under the Access to Information Act.

The emails show that as early as 2008, CBSA officials recognized importers using the 9948 exemption would not be able to provide end-user certificates, but continued providing advance rulings allowing the goods to enter Canada duty-free.

Early last year officials launched a “strategy” of compliance audits, demanding end-user certificates that they knew could not be produced. Emails show the ministerial offices of Public Safety Canada and Finance were notified.

“This is a good news story for Trade ($16 million in recoverable revenue),” boasts a top bureaucrat in one email.

A “priority submission” paper for the CBSA, completed in January 2012, notes that tariff 9948 has been used often by TV importers: “Although importers may have been the subject of prior compliance verifications, the end-use has never been audited, nor have certificates been required.”

The documents also cite importers whose specific advance rulings from the CBSA expressly state “there will be no end use certificates required.”

In the highly competitive consumer electronics market, tariffs are passed on directly to the consumer.

Jacob Herzog, vice-president of Curtis International, said in the coalition news release Thursday that importers can’t afford to eat retroactive tariffs.

“The televisions were priced and sold base on this direction (from the CBSA). We cannot now collect millions of dollars from these television sales to pay retroactive import duties.”

A wide group of electronics consumers can expect to feel the impact of the aggressive CBSA strategy, according to internal government documents.

“Plans are underway to examine other consumer goods that are accounted for under tariff item 9948.00.00, such as CDs, DVDs and speakers …,” states an undated memo to the CBSA president.

“Refund claims that have been previously approved without a certification signed by actual users may also be ‘further re-determined’ to recover duties refunded, in error.”

New Democrats, who felt the brunt of a sustained Conservative “iPod tax” campaign in 2010, jumped on the latest document revelations.

“It’s now clear that despite repeated denials, the Conservatives have been meticulously planning to impose a tax on iPods and other electronic goods and apply it retroactively,” Murray Rankin, the NDP critic for National Revenue, said in a release.

“What’s even worse is the uncertainty that this brings to the business community, which needs well-defined and fair rules to do business efficiently.”

It says the number of recipients declined by 1.0 per cent or 5,200 people, to 523,700.

The number of beneficiaries was down 8.1 per cent compared with a year earlier.

All four Western provinces as well as Newfoundland and Labrador reported fewer beneficiaries in March, while there was little change in the other provinces.

To receive EI benefits, individuals must first submit a claim and the number of claims provides an indication of the number of people who could become beneficiaries.

The number of initial and renewal claims rose by 6,800 or 3.0 per cent to 230,700 in March, partly offsetting a decline observed the previous month.

The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition is out with a report today that blasts the Canadian government for its “backwards” and “punitive” drug policies.

“This report highlights the failing role that current federal drug policies play in supporting safety and health and draws attention to the acute need for an improved system of supports for people who use drugs including harm reduction,” the report says. “This report also highlights the patchwork of provincial policies and services that support people with drug problems.”

The CDPC position is governments should be spending their money on harm reduction programs instead of law enforcement.

“Canada still relies on the criminal law to curb illegal drug use and stem the growth of illegal drug markets,” it says in the 112-page report. “These laws and policies disproportionally target already marginalized groups.”

The CDPC points to Portugal and the Czech Republic as countries that have recently decriminalized drugs and had positive results.

The group is also calling for the legalization of marijuana for adults in Canada.

Click here to read the report.

The mayor’s brother, Councillor Doug Ford, has called on the media to back off.

However, Political affairs specialist John Stall with 680 News in Toronto said that is unlikely to happen until the mayor confronts the situation more directly than he did last week by dismissing the allegations as “ridiculous.”

According to Stall, the news cycle doesn’t change until there is something new, like an explanation, a statement, an apology, or an admission — something that moves the attention from silence and the speculation triggered by that silence.

Stall spoke with Toronto Star reporter Kevin Donovan about the newspaper’s continuing attempt to get a hold of the video and why the Star will keep pursuing the mayor.

Listen to the interview with Donovan below:

Donovan also told Stall why he thinks Mayor Ford is not likely to sue the newspaper.

“I’m not surprised; I never thought he was going to sue. A lawsuit would require both sides to provide information on discovery and my personal opinion is that Mayor Ford doesn’t want to have to do that,” Donovan said.

So, is it time for the mayor to say or do something more about the drug abuse allegations? Stall offers his view. Click here to read his blog post.

Your reaction: Media madness or mandatory coverage?

Stephen Harper wants to see if it’s worthwhile engaging in yet another round of talks to free up trade and investment.

And the leaders of the Pacific Alliance — which groups Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico — want to know if Canada is serious enough about economic integration to at least partly let go of its trade and investment restrictions and its visa requirements.

The opposition NDP is leery about joining a group when Canada is already engaged in several different trade talks that are dragging on and on, and before a parliamentary committee studying the Pacific Alliance has even reached any conclusions.

But senior Canadian government officials say Canada is still just an observer at the Pacific Alliance and has made no commitment to join as a member.

“It makes sense that we’re here as observers. Observer doesn’t necessarily mean member-in-waiting,” said one official on condition her name not be used — standard practice during policy briefings.

By sending Harper as well as International Trade Minister Ed Fast to the talks in Cali, Canada is sending a signal to its competitors that it is serious about trade with dynamic partners in Latin America, analysts say.

“I think it’s a signal to some very close partners,” agreed the senior official.

The Pacific Alliance is ambitious. It aims to break down barriers not just in goods, but also services, people and capital. The four founding members are focusing on removing those barriers internally first, and then hoping to bring in other members to form one of the largest trade blocs in the world.

For now, though, the Canadian government does not know exactly what that trade bloc will look like.

“They’re still dotting some i’s and crossing some t’s,” said the official.

The summit got off to a damp start on Wednesday night. Several vehicles got stuck in the mud after days of rain in the valley city. Harper and many others missed a dinner meant for visiting leaders and 600 dignitaries hosted by Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos.

Some non-government organizations say Canada already sacrificed labour rights and environmental protections by signing on to a free trade agreement with Colombia, and they don’t want to see Canada exacerbate that mistake.

They also point out that as part of its attempt to win Canadian political support for its free trade agreement with Colombia, Ottawa promised to produce an annual report on human rights in Colombia to assess whether free trade hurts or improves conditions. But no report has been tabled yet this year, despite a mid-May deadline.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights produces a separate report on Colombia every year. Its most recent edition states that there is reason to hope that human rights are improving as the peace process dealing with 40 years of internal violence takes hold.

But it also says the Colombian government needs to take responsibility for third-party violence, extra-judicial executions, disappearances, and land rights that are abused by companies in the mining sector.

Canada’s mining companies are front and centre in Latin America, but the senior official said Canadian firms are leaders in corporate social responsibility and in promoting improvements in living conditions and respect for human rights.

David James LeBlanc appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Bridgewater, where he entered guilty pleas to charges of kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault, uttering threats and breach of conditions.

Two other charges — sexual assault causing bodily harm and administering a noxious substance with intent to cause bodily harm — were withdrawn.

The victim’s mother said seeing LeBlanc in court for the first time Thursday was “very difficult.”

“As a mother, I just wanted him to suffer,” she said outside court, her hands shaking.

“Normally I’m not like that, but it was just overwhelming.”

She said her son, who cannot be identified, is trying to put the incident behind him, adding she was glad he doesn’t have to “relive” the abuse through a trial.

LeBlanc was charged after a woman reported in September that a barefoot teenager arrived at her doorstep in Upper Chelsea, about 130 kilometres southwest of Halifax, chained at his wrists and ankles.

At the time, the RCMP said they believe the boy was held captive for 10 to 14 days before he was able to escape.

LeBlanc also pleaded guilty Thursday to making and distributing child pornography as well as sexual interference in a separate case involving two boys, aged five and two.

Crown prosecutor Lloyd Tancock said he will seek between eight to 12 years in prison and will likely craft a joint sentencing recommendation with the defence.

Tancock said that the guilty pleas mean that what would have likely been a lengthy trial with up to 20 witnesses for one case alone will now not go ahead. He said it also shielded the young victims from having to testify or endure a difficult trial.

“Our case was extremely strong and I would hope that (LeBlanc) saw that it was the proper thing to do,” Tancock said outside court.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 14.

LeBlanc was arrested Sept. 30 in northern Ontario after a Canada-wide manhunt. At the time, police were also searching for 31-year-old Wayne Alan Cunningham, whose body was later found near the area where LeBlanc was arrested. Foul play was not suspected in his death.

A third man, John Leonard MacKean, was charged in November with sexual assault and communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services from a person under 18 in relation to the confinement case.

He has elected trial by judge and jury in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25 in Bridgewater.

The calls came as hopes briefly rose Wednesday of finding Prabhdeep Srawn when “voices” were heard in the search area in the Kosciuszko National Park.

But reports from the site in New South Wales say that poor weather is restricting search teams to the ground.

The 25-year-old Brampton, Ont., man hasn’t been heard from since parking his rental car May 13 in a village near the park.

The Canberra Times reported Thursday that Srawn’s family is frustrated that there is a lack of manpower but accepts that the authorities know what they are doing.

Meanwhile, friends of the family took to social media, urging the Australian military to join the search.

“We need military assistance to further search efforts and save Prabh Srawn who’s been missing for 10 days,” one wrote in a message addressed to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

“Please send in the army to help find Prabh Srawn. Rescuers are in need of assistance,” another tweeted.

By early Thursday, nearly 3,000 people had joined a Facebook page dedicated to finding the law student.

Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell said in a message posted on the page that she had sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seeking additional support.

“Help find Prabh Srawn… he is a Bramptonian,” Fennell wrote.

The family believes Srawn’s chances of survival are a bit higher than a normal hiker because he has had extensive survival training as a reservist in both the Canadian and Australian military.

His cousin Tej Sahota told the Times that Srawn had extensive cold-weather camping experience from the Canadian army and may have taken shelter in areas of bush or a gully.