to Power. By 2010 Government House Leader John Baird announced during question period in the House of Commons that "Mr. Flanagan speaks for himself ... He doesn't speak for the government and he hasn't advised the Prime Minister Office Stephen Harper for years. I certainly don't share his views." Accusation of corruption In 2008, Flanagan and Doug Finley were accused by Dona Cadman of offering her late husband, MP Chuck Cadman, a million-dollar life insurance policy (on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada) in exchange for his vote against the Liberal budget in May 2005. This vote would have caused the government to fall and triggered an election. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found no evidence to support criminal charges. Civitas Flanagan was a founding member and president of the Canadian conservative society , founded in 1996 by William Gairdner, and described the society's raison d'être this way: His critics claimed he had too much power in the shadows, advising Canadian politicians, to whittle "aboriginal claims on land and self-determination down to individual property rights and municipal self-government." Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship Tom Flanagan has served on the board of directors of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship since 2004. Selected publications in reverse chronological order Books Selected journal articles 1996 1990 1986 1983 Book chapters 1985 1983 1979 Notes References External links Tom Flanagan audio interview October 2007 The Man Behind Stephen Harper. Walrus Magazine 1944 births American emigrants to Canada Canadian political scientists Duke University alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Living people People from Ottawa, Illinois University of Calgary faculty Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters alumni