Bruce Carson was convicted on five counts of fraud three more than previously known, and received court-ordered psychiatric treatment before becoming one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's closest advisers.
And his lawyer told The Canadian Press that Mr. Carson disclosed his entire criminal record during a security check that was required to become a senior staffer in the Prime Minister's Office.
The latest revelations raise new questions about Mr. Harper's judgment in hiring Mr. Carson as his chief policy analyst and troubleshooter – roles Mr. Carson played until leaving the PMO in 2008.
Mr. Carson would have been privy to top secret government files in his for job as a senior adviser to the prime minister.
The PMO asked the RCMP last month to investigate Mr. Carson after a probe by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network alleged the 65-year-old may have illegally lobbied the federal government on behalf of a company that employed his girlfriend, a 22-year-old one-time escort.
The Tories weren't the only party Mr. Carson courted.
A friend said he worked freelance for the Liberal caucus research bureau for a time during John Turner's leadership, between 1984 and 1990. He also served in the Progressive Conservative research service at the Ontario legislature and for Conservative senators on Parliament Hill during the 1990s.
During Mr. Carson's stint at the PMO, it was publicly known that he had been jailed and disbarred by the Law Society of Upper Canada in the early 1980s for two counts of defrauding clients.
But court documents uncovered by The Canadian Press show he had another run-in with the law in 1990, while he was working as a researcher for the Library of Parliament.
He was charged with defrauding a Budget Car and Truck Rental of a 1989 Toyota vehicle. He was also charged with defrauding the Bank of Montreal and the Toronto-Dominion Bank of sums exceeding $1,000 each.
In June 1990, Mr. Carson pleaded guilty to all three counts and received a suspended sentence and 24 months probation on condition that he “continue treatment at the R.O.H. (Royal Ottawa Hospital)” and make restitution of $4,000 within 23 months to the car rental company.
Patrick McCann, who represented Mr. Carson in 1990 and is acting for him again now, said the suspended sentence demonstrates the charges were “not considered to be that serious.”
“He genuinely had a bit of a meltdown as a result of his marital break-up,” Mr. McCann said in an interview.
“It was part of the situation at the time that he was having some ... psychiatric counselling and that was a factor, I think, that came into play too.”
A friend of Mr. Carson's said he suffered “a stress-related mental collapse brought on by an ugly divorce.”
Neither the PMO nor the RCMP have confirmed that Mr. Carson was given a security check. However, people who've worked at senior levels for previous prime ministers say someone in Mr. Carson's position would have been subject to a thorough review by both the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Mr. McCann said he didn't know what the security review process for Mr. Carson entailed but “I know that he did (undergo a security check) and I know that he disclosed this to them.”
Since turning over the lobbying allegations to the RCMP, the PMO has severed all ties with Carson, who had been serving as head of the federally-funded Canada School of Energy and the Environment in Calgary since leaving the PMO. He has taken a leave of absence from that job.
“Given what we've learned about Bruce Carson, our government will not be in communication with him on any matter,” PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas said when the APTN story broke.
Privately, Mr. Carson's friends are upset that Mr. Harper has ostracized his long-time adviser, without waiting for the results of the police investigation, and has refused to frankly discuss what he knew about Mr. Carson's past and why he felt Mr. Carson deserved a second chance.
