Bruce Carson

Bruce Carson (December 15, 1945 – March 5, 2022) was an aide and senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. He was convicted of two counts of fraud, one was during the 1980s and again in 1990. His 1980 conviction resulted in prison time and his disbarment by the Law Society of Upper Canada for two counts of defrauding clients. Carson later became a contributor to numerous national publications, and a regular contributor to right-wing news aggregate, News Hub Nation, headed by former Conservative Cabinet Minister, Monte Solberg.

On July 27, 2012, Carson was charged with influence peddling by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was eventually convicted of influence peddling by the Ontario Court of Appeal on October 6, 2016. In May 2014, Carson was further charged with three counts of prohibited lobbying and a single count of influence peddling. He was due in court to face these charges on June 18, 2014, in Ottawa. In November, 2016, an Ontario court found him guilty of the lobbying charges and imposed a $50,000 fine.

On March 5, 2022, Carson died of cancer in Ottawa.

1978–1993 Since his early 30s, Carson had numerous legal difficulties related to financial improprieties, most of which involved fraud or non-payment of obligations.

In 1978, Carson was ordered by a court judgement to pay a company over $1,900, stemming from a bounced cheque.

In May 1979, Carson and his then-wife defaulted on their mortgage payments. This resulted in a Supreme Court of Ontario writ allowing possession of their property to be claimed by a savings and loan company. During that time, he was also sued by for $1,189.50 by the Hudson's Bay Company for unpaid merchandise. Carson left the Prime Minister's office in 2008.

Employment at the Canada School of Energy and Environment After leaving the Prime Minister's office in 2008, he began employment as executive director Carson was never registered as a lobbyist, and as a former political staff member, was prohibited from lobbying government agencies for five years after leaving office. On March 25, 2011, head of , Patrick Hill, denied that Carson had lobbied on his behalf.

The RCMP started the investigation in March 2011, after Prime Minister's office provided a referral.

The single count of influence peddling is a result of Carson's alleged acceptance of commission for a third party connected to a business transaction related to the Canadian Government.

In May 2014, the RCMP laid a further four charges against Carson resulting from his lobbying for the Canada School of Energy and Environment and the Energy Policy Institute of Canada. The new charges are three counts of prohibited lobbying and a single count of influence peddling.

Carson was initially acquitted on the charge of fraud on the Government on November 17, 2015. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and entered in a verdict of guilty in a 2-1 decision on October 6, 2016. The guilty verdict was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in an 8–1 decision.

Carson was convicted of three counts for violations of the Lobbying Act on September 16, 2016. On appeal, the conviction on one the counts was overturned while the other two were affirmed. Carson was fined $45,000 for the violations.