“This is a guy who was caught falsifying facts and sticking his hand in the taxpayers’ pocket. Do we really believe that the Conservative cronies in the Senate are going to make him pay the money back?” NDP MP Charlie Angus asked during question period.
The former broadcast journalist who became a senator four years ago is under renewed scrutiny following a report Monday that his office tried to get Prince Edward Island Health Minister Doug Currie to expedite his request for a provincial health card.
The ministry would not comment on the specific case Tuesday, noting only that all applications are treated the same way, but Currie confirmed the gist of the story to the Charlottetown Guardian.
The Senate Standing Committee on Internal Economy is conducting an audit following media reports last year that some senators are claiming tens of thousands of dollars in annual living expenses for their time spent in the national capital despite living in or near Ottawa most of the time.
It asked senators to provide proof that their primary residences are in the provinces or territories they represent.
“The Senate is responsible for those rules,” Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan said in response to Angus on Tuesday, noting the committee is reviewing the situation.
Conservative Senator David Tkachuk, who chairs the committee conducting the audit, said he expects it to be out by the end of the month, and that it may look at modernizing the rules.
“When they wrote the Constitution, people lived all their lives in the same place. People don’t do that anymore,” he said.
The audit will verify whether expenses are being paid out properly and whether they can increase transparency.
Tkachuk said senators are not looking into whether Duffy is a resident of P.E.I.
“I don’t know if he is or he isn’t. It’s not for me to say. What we will determine, is he a resident that can receive expenses while he’s in Ottawa. That’s our determination,” Tkachuk said.
Duffy claimed about $42,802 in living expenses for the National Capital Region between Nov. 30, 2010 and Nov. 30, 2012, according to quarterly expense reports.
Senators are allowed to claim up to $22,000 in living expenses — including accommodation, meals and incidentals — per fiscal year when they are in Ottawa on parliamentary business, so long as their primary residence is more than 100 kilometres away.
Duffy claims a home in Cavendish, P.E.I. as his primary residence, a cottage whose porch light has been covered and whose neighbours appear to have left for the winter, but property records show he also owns a home in Kanata about 22 kilometres away from Parliament Hill.
Duffy, who has lived in Ottawa since 1971, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Neither did Liberal Senator Mac Harb, a former Ottawa city councillor and MP who claimed about $40,212 in living expenses over the same period. Harb owns a home in Westmeath, Ont., about 150 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.
The office of Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau said he provided the committee with documentation in December to support his claim that his primary residence is with his father in Maniwaki, Que.
He also claimed $36,701 in living expenses from Mar. 1, 2011 to Nov. 30, 2012, which his office said covers rent at his secondary residence in Gatineau, Que.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Joanna Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment