With discussion of the Senate expense controversy continuing to dominate Ottawa’s political discourse, some are suggesting more needs to be done to monitor MPs books, too.
Over the past week, calls have strengthened to have parliamentarians to adopt a British-style monitoring system that would post senator and MP receipts and expenses online as part of an effort to boost accountability.
Currently, budgets and expenses of MPs are tracked by government committee, but they’re not made publicly available, leading some to suggest a double standard.
“They all seem to be throwing stone at senators, but they’re covering up and protecting their own fiefdom,” said Gregory Thomas, director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “MPs don’t want to come clean with Canadians.”
And while various MPs told CTV’s Question Period Sunday they’d welcome such a British-inspired online system, they also stressed adequate resources and rules must first be in place.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel cautioned proper staff and resources would be key to adopting a formal policy to post expenses online.
“If we’re looking at this as a policy … we also have to make sure that there’s enough resources to balance the needs of constituents,” she said.
NDP MP Craig Scott added as long there are clear rules guiding the online expense system, he would also support the move.
“As long as we have rules that apply to all the parties and it’s clear (that) whatever’s being posted isn’t subject to the kinds of easy misinterpretation … Yes, why not?” he said.
Now MPs might be able to get the chance: CTV News has learned that Conservative MP John Williamson will introduce a private member’s bill on Monday pushing for great transparency when it comes to political expenses – both in the Senate and the House of Commons.
If passed, any MP or Senator convicted of wrongdoing related to their job could lose their pension or possibly face jail time.
Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc said all parties should support increased accountability.
“If parliament decides ultimately that they want greater transparency, I can’t imagine any political party would resist.”
LeBlanc added that since he was elected in 2000, he’s seen an “enormous evolution” in transparency surrounding parliamentary spending -- including the disclosure of travel and personal expenses and the accounting mechanisms used.
LeBlanc said it is an oversimplification to suggest parliamentary spending is not made public, as he receives a detailed breakdown on his own office’s spending and budgets every year.
Opposition Leaders Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau have spent the past two weeks using the House of Commons’ daily question period to hammer Prime Minister Stephen Harper over what he knew about a cheque Sen. Mike Duffy used to repay over $90,000 in improperly claimed expenses.
CTV News learned last month that Nigel Wright, Harper’s former chief of staff, had written Duffy a personal cheque to repay the expenses, prompting calls for an RCMP investigation or public inquiry.
Wright resigned when news of the cheque broke, and the Prime Minister has maintained he knew nothing about the arrangement until it came out in the media.
In addition to Duffy, two other senators -- Patrick Brazeau and Mac Harb -- were ordered to pay back housing expenses deemed to be improperly claimed by an outside audit.
Auditors are also examining the travel expenses of Sen. Pamela Wallin, but the results of that probe have not yet been released.
