“These controversies are more than unfortunate, they are tragic,” the former senator for Ontario told The Hill Times. He continues to hold all of his former Senate colleagues in high regard—including those now being implicated in an expense claims scandal that has forced the Upper Chamber’s Internal Economy Committee to review the residency records of all 105 sitting members.
“They’re not just good, they’re better than good,” Mr. Murray said. “To say that they’re all hacks is a terrible injustice to them.”
The former government leader in the Senate, a former member of prime minister Brian Mulroney’s Cabinet, and a constitutional expert, Mr. Murray said he did not want to “pile on” Sen. Patrick Brazeau, who was last week put on a leave of absence from the Senate following being charged with domestic and sexual assault on Feb. 8.
“I don’t know what demons are chasing him. He’s 38 years old and I do hope he’s able to turn his life around,” said Mr. Murray. “The others, I know them and they work at their jobs. Duffy does, Wallin does, Harb—they’re working Senators and it’s a shame even in their cases to suggest that they’re not.”
Mr. Murray, who was appointed to the Upper Chamber by former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark in 1979 and retired in the fall of 2011, became an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) centralized control of government operations in his final years as a Senator.
He remained a Progressive Conservative Senator and did not join the new Conservative Party.
“I have very profound differences with the present government and its fundamental orientation on a lot of things. One of the areas I don’t criticize Prime Minister Harper on is the quality of his Senate appointments,” he said.
The Senate’s Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration announced in December that a three-member subcommittee would review the residency status of all Senators following media reports that Conservative Sen. Brazeau and Sen. Mike Duffy, and Liberal Senator Mac Harb were claiming living expense allowances for a secondary home, despite evidence that their primary residences are within 100 km of Parliament.
The subcommittee is chaired by Conservative Senator and former Newfoundland auditor general Elizabeth Marshall. Liberal Senator Larry Campbell and Conservative Senator Gerald Comeau also serve on the committee.
Senators with a primary residence more than 100 kilometres from Parliament Hill are able to claim up to $22,000 annually in living expenses on a secondary residence within the National Capital Region. In 2012, Senate living expense claims exceeded $1.6-million.
Saskatchewan Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin is also facing questions about her living expenses, as well as her travel claims. Senate Internal Economy Committee chair David Tkachuk told media on Feb. 14 that Sen. Wallin was selected at random to be audited following the auditor general’s spring 2012 report on Senate administration, which found that some expense claim filings “did not contain sufficient documentation.”
“We made a decision after the auditor general’s report,” Sen. Tkachuk said. “[T]he Senate will now be doing random audits of Senators over the next number of years.”
Mr. Murray said that the expense cases of Sen. Duffy and Sen. Wallin will be particularly problematic if proven that they have not been filing taxes in the provinces they represent. The two Senators represent Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan, respectively, but have lived and worked in Ontario for decades beginning when they were journalists.
Section 23(5) of the Constitution Act (1867) requires that Senators reside in the provinces they represent. Senators had until Jan. 31 to provide the Senate’s Internal Economy Committee with copies of their health card, driver’s licence, and the provincial declaration on their 2011 income tax filing, as well a declaration of where they had voted in federal, provincial, and municipal elections.
Sen. Tkachuk told the press on Thursday that any Senator who met all four requirements would be “deemed” to have been interviewed on their residency.
While the committee is reviewing each Senator’s residency records and expense claims, the cases of Sen. Brazeau, Sen. Duffy, Sen. Harb, and Sen. Wallin are being audited by private accounting firm Deloitte.
“If it’s more widespread than that, then we’re in the middle of a very big constitutional crisis involving the Senate,” Mr. Murray told The Hill Times. “If you have sworn on your income tax return that you’re a resident of the province of Ontario, [but serve as] a senator from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, whatever—I think you’re disqualified. I think your seat is vacated.”
By the end of last week, CTV News published a report raising questions about the residency of a fifth Senator. Conservative Senator Dennis Patterson represents Nunavut, but reportedly spends most of his time between Vancouver and Ottawa.
The government faces a lengthy wait of between one and two years for the Supreme Court to rule on a recent reference on the constitutionality of a list of Senate reforms. On Friday, Hill Times reporter Tim Naumetz reported that on Feb. 6 Justice Department lawyers acting on behalf of Justice Minister Rob Nicholson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) requested that the court fast track its ruling on the Senate reform reference so that a judgment would be rendered before the end of 2013.
Meanwhile, the official opposition has seized on the scandals.NDP Leader Tom Mulcair (Outremont, Que.) has called the allegations “disgraceful” and called for the Senate to be abolished.
“The NDP can go on all they like about abolition. If Tom Mulcair forms the government in 2015 he will be appointing senators because he has to,” said Mr. Murray. “He can’t depend on the Liberals or Conservatives or Independents to bring his legislative program through.”
Current Senators are now on the defensive, calling for greater respect of their institution and distancing themselves from the growing list of implicated colleagues.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: CHRIS PLECASH
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