The review, which examined every expense\u00a0senators incurred over a two-year period, was a “colossal waste of money,” in the eyes of Liberal Sen. Percy Downe, with a poor “return on investment.”<\/p>\n
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- THE CURRENT |\u00a0How independent is the Senate under Justin\u00a0Trudeau’s<\/span>\u00a0rule?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Mike Duffy is suing the Senate, federal government for $8M<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Conservative Sen. Elizabeth Marshall, herself a former provincial auditor in Newfoundland and Labrador, recently said the whole affair was “so painful” in part because the auditor general\u00a0didn’t use “sampling” to find a pattern of abuse.<\/p>\n
Despite those misgivings, the Red Chamber is now reviewing some of the recommendations the auditor general\u00a0made with respect to expenses\u00a0and oversight, in a bid to avoid future scandal.<\/p>\n
![\"Senate](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.3429926.1506116851!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/senate-expenses-ag-20150610.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAuditor General Michael Ferguson, who led a sprawling review of Senate spending, has said the $23.6 million price tag for the audit includes costs his office would have incurred no matter what, including costs for salaries and office space. (Fred Chartrand\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
Members of the Senate’s\u00a0powerful internal economy committee, as well as\u00a0other members of the upper house, are determined to turn the page\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but also say they want to make sure any process implemented is\u00a0worthwhile. The Senate has already beefed up public disclosure, posting quarterly expense reports online and publishing details of service contracts, the likes of which put\u00a0Sen. Mike Duffy in the spotlight.<\/p>\n
The House of Commons, by comparison, is much more secretive about spending.<\/p>\n
But to really move forward, the Senate will have to wrestle with one of the auditor general’s\u00a0key findings \u2014 namely that senators should allow independent officers to rule on the validity of expense claims.<\/p>\n
This has tossed senators, who have long sought to be masters of their own house, into a\u00a0debate over just how much authority they should forfeit.<\/p>\n
‘A\u00a0high-wire act’<\/h2>\n
Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the Senate, is eager to implement changes the auditor general called for, citing what he sees as inherent flaws with the current structure.<\/p>\n
“Faced with such an inadequate system, the public may be forgiven its cynicism … In my view, to meet the expectations of Canadians, it is crucial that this new body have a majority of external members and a minority of senators,”\u00a0he\u00a0recently wrote<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Policy Options<\/em>.<\/p>\n
- Mike Duffy is suing the Senate, federal government for $8M<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Harder](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4064666.1491854629!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/harder-senate-20161222.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.3143495.1436380798!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/david-wells-talks-about-ches-crosbie-and-john-crosbie-fiasco.jpg\")
<\/p>\n