Canadian Senate Mired in Ever Deepening Scandal

The Senate of Canada is, as randyfmacdonald pointed out two weeks ago, a useless appendage of the state, which has become a resting place for party bagmen to get paid to do not much of anything. As he noted at the time, two Senators were embroiled in a scandal over expenses (and in one case alleged criminality). Since then, the scandal has both deepened and widened. Many more Senators are facing allegations that they claimed expenses to which they were not entitled, and in some cases are facing allegations that they are ineligible to even sit in the Senate in the first place.

The Constitution requires a Senator to have his or her primary residence in the province or territory of Canada that the Senator is appointed to represent. This seems like a no-brainer, but is apparently beyond the comprehension of both some Senators and of the Prime Minister, as several Senators are now facing allegations that they don’t live in the province or territory they supposedly represent.

Senator Mike Duffy, brought to our attention in randyfmacdonald’s piece, is covered by Ontario’s public health insurance plan, and has declared Ontario to be his province of residence for tax purposes, despite the fact that he represents Prince Edward Island. Oops. Not only that, but Prince Edward Island denied Duffy’s attempts to be enrolled in their health insurance plan because he doesn’t live there. Duffy also claimed something in the neighbourhood of $30,000 in living expenses to which he wasn’t entitled. He now, after this storm has burst, has said he will pay it back.

Senator Pamela Wallin, who represents Saskatchewan (supposedly) appears to be actually resident in Ontario, given that she is enrolled in Ontario’s health insurance plan and owns a luxury condo in Toronto. She is also facing escalating questions about the $321,000 in travel expenses that she claimed since September 2010, only $29,423 of which was travel to the province in which she is supposedly resident. Wallin has apparently already paid some of it back, but no one, from the Senate to the Prime Minister, will say how much.

Senator Dennis Patterson, who represents the territory of Nunuvut, is also in trouble over residency requirements. He owns property in Iqaluit (the territorial capital), but also apparently lives in Vancouver and (thus far anonymous) sources suggest that he hasn’t paid taxes as a Nunavut resident since at least 2009. He has also racked up $205,000 in air travel expenses since September 2010, though for someone flying to Nunavut this is more understandable, since it is damn expensive to get there.

The Senate, as an institution, is not doing itself any favours in how it is handling these stories. The Senate leadership of the two parties represented there (there are no New Democratic Senators), are pleading with the public to back off and let the Senate investigate itself. They are also refusing to say if any Senators have paid back expenses, and if they have how much. They have spent years fending off the Auditor General from investigating Senate expenses. Is it any wonder that Canadians look at this circus and turn away in disgust?

All of this reflects badly on the Prime Minister. Of the five Senators facing the biggest issues (Duffy, Patrick Brazeau, Wallin, Patterson and Mac Harb), four are Conservatives, and all of those four were appointed by Prime Minister Harper. He selected these people, and is standing by them.

What does it take for the police to be called in? There seems to be good evidence that at least some Senators were claiming massive amounts of money to which they had no entitlement. If a non-Senator had claimed tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenses to which they had no entitlement from their employer, they wouldn’t be let off with paying it back. They would be facing a police investigation. Why are Senators above the law?

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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