Senate expense claims review outlines systemic issues

Spending in the scandal-ridden, self-policing Senate is devoid of oversight and accountability, says an explosive audit of expenses that urges "transformative change" to fix systemic problems in the upper chamber.

• 9 Senate expense cases sent to RCMP for investigation
• 2 sitting senatorsface RCMP investigation into expenses
• Senate leaders caught up in AG expenses audit

Michael Ferguson's long-awaited examination of Senate expensesproposes nothing short of a complete overhaul of how spending isgoverned sweeping changes that echo what the auditor general hasbeen saying for years: parliamentarians should not be overseeing thespending of their peers.

Front and centre is retired Liberal senator Rod Zimmer and hisdisputed expense claims, which total $176,014 including travelthat auditors allege was for non-Senate business, and a housingallowance to which he wasn't entitled.

Tinkering with expense rules in recent years has had littleimpact, says the report, which takes issue with a total of $976,627in expense claims. Portions of the report were viewed by TheCanadian Press.

"The weaknesses and problems uncovered in the course of thiscomprehensive audit of senators' expenses call for atransformational change in the way expenses are claimed, managed,controlled, and reviewed," Ferguson writes.

"Simply changing or adding to existing rules will not be enough.Improvements in oversight, accountability, transparency, andsenators' consideration for the cost to taxpayers are needed toresolve the issues that we have identified."

Senators need'diligence,discipline'

The audit, to be made public Tuesday, recommends that anindependent oversight body of experts be established to decidewhether an expense claim falls inside or outside Senate rules.

It also calls for regular, outside audits of spending to promote"diligence and discipline" from senators, staff and the
administration responsible for spending public dollars.

Such a system, the report says, would prevent problems fromsnowballing into those that have engulfed disgraced senators PamelaWallin, Mike Duffy, Mac Harb or Patrick Brazeau.

The latter three are all facing criminal charges stemming fromtheir Senate expenses; Duffy is currently standing trial on 31charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. He has pleaded notguilty. Wallin remains under RCMP investigation.

Ferguson's report identifies $976,627 in questionable spendingamong 30 current and retired senators. Just five of those senatorsaccount for about $546,000 of the spending Ferguson identifies inthe audit.

The audit, which reportedly cost nearly $21 million to conduct,reviewed more than 80,000 transactions worth about $180 million.

Zimmer disputes findings

Nine senators, including Zimmer, were to be referred Friday tothe RCMP for criminal review over problems with their travel andhousing.

Zimmer disputes the findings, including $2,072 for taxis inOttawa for him and his wife that appeared to be for personal
reasons.

In a blistering written response to the audit, he accusesFerguson of "appearing to be interfering in the judicial proceedingsnow taking place in the trial of (suspended senator)Duffy, where theissue of residency ... (is) central to the proceedings."

"Will this be seen as prejudging the conclusion Justice CharlesVaillancourt will reach on the same matter, and what if JusticeVaillancourt does not agree with the auditor general'sinterpretation?"

The other sitting senator facing RCMP scrutiny is Ottawa-basedSenatorColin Kenny, who was appointed by Pierre Trudeau 31 years ago.

Auditors found problems with $35,549 worth of travel claims thatdidn't have enough documentation to prove he was on Senate business.

Kenny disputes the findings, including conclusions that he hadstaffers organize his personal affairs, which Kenny writes ended up"costing the Senate no money" and took up a minuscule portion of
their daily workload.

In a release, Kenny said he would defend himself and expects tobe vindicated.

Two others on the list of nine former Conservative DonaldOliver and former Liberal Marie-P. Charette-Poulin have repaidexpenses deemed ineligible.

The remaining seven are disputing Ferguson's findings. Some havedelivered blistering responses that are included in the auditreport. One calls on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to hold areferendum on Senate abolition this October.

Some 21 other senators have had their expenses flagged, withproblematic claims totalling anywhere from a few thousand dollars tomore than $100,000.

Secondary residences contested

Housing is an issue for many in the group of nine, with auditorsalleging three former Liberals lived primarily at what they claimedwas a secondary residence in the capital.

Retired Liberal senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool is beingchallenged on expenses totalling $110,051. The audit alleges shelived primarily in Gatineau, Que., just outside of Ottawa, ratherthan Moncton, N.B. It also alleges she expensed trips that weren'tfor parliamentary business.

In her response, Losier-Cool said the auditors rejectedexplanations her lawyers provided for the travel, adding: "I carefully followed the Senate rules that were in effect on thosedates."

Thursday marked the start of the fallout from the almost 120-pageaudit, which many senators have yet to see. Sen. Pierre HuguesBoisvenu resigned from the Conservative caucus Thursday, admittinghe is among the nine facing the prospect of a police investigation.

Icarefully followed the Senate rules that were in effect on thosedates.- Retired Liberal senator Rose-MarieLosier-Cool

Harper appointed Boisvenu in 2010 on the back of his victims'rights work, anchored in the foundation Boisvenu founded afterlosing his daughter Julie in 2002 to a violent killer.

Boisvenu allegedly misspent $61,076 during the two-year periodunder review. Auditors say he filed improper living claims andcharged taxpayers $38,577 for mileage, accommodations and per diemsrelated to work for the victims' rights organization he foundedbefore joining the Senate.

There was also $745 claimed for the expense of mailing off copiesof his book.

Boisvenu disputed the auditors' findings in the report, and isset to challenge the recommendations before the special expensesarbitrator the Senate hired last week.

"The fact that a parliamentarian advocates for a cause before,during or after his time as a legislator has absolutely nothing todo with the fact that the advocacy is or is not part of his dutiesas a parliamentarian," Boisvenu wrote.