A Star analysis of Elections Canada records shows that seven Conservative senators were reimbursed $8,929 by the campaigns of 23 Conservative candidates in the 2011 election and four Liberal senators were reimbursed $13,018 by the campaigns of four candidates for their party.
Elections Canada rules require local campaigns to cover the expenses of senators when they get involved, or else they are to be considered non-monetary contributions to the campaign.
Still, Toronto NDP MP Craig Scott, critic for democratic and parliamentary reform, believes senators should stay out of election campaigns entirely.
“The real issue is they are out there as part of the public salaries they are being paid,” said Scott, whose party wants to abolish the Senate and has also been asking questions about travel expenses senators submitted during the quarter that included the 2011 election campaign.
Ontario Liberal Sen. David Smith, who co-chaired the Liberal 2011 election campaign, argued Canadians should put things into perspective when it comes to senators helping out during elections.
“You don’t want things that inhibit people in Parliament from participating, because you need people with experience and knowledge to help have elections be meaningful and make democracy work,” Smith said.
Elections Canada rules also allow candidates who receive at least 10 per cent of the vote to be reimbursed up to 60 per cent of eligible election expenses by the federal government.
Since all but three of the 27 candidates whose campaigns reimbursed senators for their expenses met this threshold, taxpayers ended up covering about $6,771 of what senators claimed.
The most visible senator, aside from Duffy, was Quebec Conservative Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, who was reimbursed about $797 in mileage for driving between his home in Sherbrooke, Que., and campaign events elsewhere in the province for six Conservative candidates.
Boisvenu, whose relationship with an aide and living expense claims became a source of controversy earlier this year, never responded after asking the Star to email him specific questions for this story.
The senator most generous with his money was Liberal Robert Peterson, since retired, who provided Gabe Lafond, the Liberal candidate in the riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, Sask., with $10,000 to cover what Peterson said was a delay in campaign start-up funds from Ottawa.
“For me it was just working in my home province. We’re part of the system. Help where we can,” said Peterson.
He was also reimbursed for a $172 flight he covered for Lafond to fly to Ottawa for a meeting in January 2011.
Conservative Sen. Michel Rivard was the official agent for two Conservative candidates in Quebec — former MP Sylvie Boucher in Beauport—Limoilou and Michel-Éric Castonguay in Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord — and was reimbursed a total of about $2,240 for miscellaneous expenses ranging from phone bills to petty cash.
“I have been in charge of training the official agents of Quebec for a long time. . . It is therefore quite normal that candidates who can’t find official agents ask me to support them with this task,” Rivard wrote in an email, adding that he volunteered his time.
Meanwhile, Francis Fox, who resigned as a Liberal senator from Quebec in December 2011, was reimbursed about $2,708 in meal, mileage, cellphone bills and accommodations for helping his son, Daniel Fox, campaign in the riding of Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel.
“I wish I could say I had a real effect on the campaign,” said Francis Fox, whose son placed third in the race won by NDP MP Mylène Freeman.
Senators are only listed as suppliers in Elections Canada files if they were reimbursed for expenses paid out of pocket, so the information available does not capture cases where a campaign paid for expenses associated with a visit from a senator directly, such as booking hotel rooms for them or including them in a group meal.
B.C. Conservative Senator Nancy Greene Raine was reimbursed about $392 for a flight she booked to visit the riding of Conservative MP John Duncan on Apr. 11, but did not show up in Elections Canada records for other appearances on Vancouver Island during the same trip.
“You know what it’s like in these campaigns. They’re always short of funding, so you’re staying in people’s houses and eating at the Tim Hortons and just going from A to B,” said Greene Raine, who remembers campaigning in at least seven ridings during the 2011 election.
“I understood absolutely clearly that we were not to use any Senate resources while we were campaigning, but we were certainly encouraged to help any candidates we felt we could and I did,” Greene Raine said.
A handful of senators were involved in miscellaneous ways:
Conservative Sen. Claude Carignan was reimbursed $100 by the campaign of Lucie Leblanc, the Conservative candidate in the Quebec riding of Rivière-des-Milles-Îles, to upgrade his cellphone plan.
Carignan said he was often giving Leblanc advice over the telephone and charged the campaign because he wanted to respect “the letter of the law”.
Liberal Sen. Fernand Robichaud, who represents New Brunswick, was reimbursed $73 by the campaign of Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc for what he bought at a local hardware store for election signs.
Liberal Sen. Elizabeth Hubley was reimbursed $66 for pizza and drinks she bought for people working on the campaign for Liberal MP Wayne Easter in Malpeque, P.E.I.
Manitoba Conservative Sen. Don Plett was reimbursed $925 by the campaign of Bev Pitura, the Conservative candidate in Winnipeg Centre, for a return flight from Calgary to Winnipeg for Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai.
Plett was also reimbursed $1,470 by the campaign for Conservative MP Joyce Bateman (Winnipeg South Centre) for office supplies, a car rental, gas and a return flight from Toronto for Ontario Conservative Sen. Linda Frum.
Plett was not available for an interview and did not respond to emailed questions asking why he covered costs for Frum and Obhrai.
As the Star previously reported, Sen. Pamela Wallin was reimbursed about $348 for expenses related to campaigning with Conservative MP Ray Boughen in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Joanna Smith
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