A Liberal notice of motion to this effect came the same day the Senate voted to call in the auditor general to examine its own spending, and less than 24 hours after former Conservative backbencher Brent Rathgeber resigned from the Tory caucus over what he argued was a lack of transparency within the Stephen Harper government.
It also comes as the upper chamber struggles over the continuing lack of clarity around the spending of one of its high-profile senators, Pamela Wallin. The Senate’s internal economy committee decided Thursday to haul in the independent auditors who are looking at her travel spending, to explain their ongoing delays in producing a report. The chairman of the committee said this week that the audit of Wallin’s approximately $375,000 travel bill over the past three years may not arrive before summer.
The Liberals’ auditor-general motion, which will be debated next week in the Senate, would zero in on a personal cheque for $90,000 that Harper’s then-chief of staff, Nigel Wright, wrote to another senator, Mike Duffy, to help him repay his housing expense claims.
An auditor-general examination of the PMO is unlikely to get support from the Conservative majority in the red chamber. Conservative Senate leader Marjory LeBreton said the suggestion was just political grandstanding.
“My read of it is it’s a political stunt and it really doesn’t have anything to with the resources of the Senate because no taxpayer dollars were used,” she said.
“It’s not gamesmanship — I think it’s a reasonable proposal,” countered Liberal Senate leader James Cowan. “The proposal to bring the auditor general into the Senate would not get to the root of the problem, which is in the Prime Minister’s Office.”
“It’s up to the Conservatives to decide whether to support it or not. I still think it’s the right thing to do.”
The Liberals in the Senate raised questions about the deal between Wright and Duffy repeatedly during debates in the Senate this week. Duffy was present but said nothing in the chamber or to reporters.
The Senate agreed Thursday afternoon to have Auditor General Michael Ferguson review its spending, although how broad his “comprehensive audit” will be has yet to be determined.
Some senators suggested the audit would be a one-time review, with broad wording to allow a probe of spending by the Senate’s administration and each of Canada’s senators.
The auditor general is likely to work with a special audit committee the internal economy committee created Thursday. The committee is headed by Conservative Sen. Beth Marshall, a former provincial auditor general for Newfoundland and Labrador.
LeBreton said the committee “is really the right way to go” to “not put fences around the auditor general, but work with the auditor general.”
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Jordan Press
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