Compare the draft and final Duffy Senate reports - Action News
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Politics

Compare the draft and final Duffy Senate reports

Read the draft version of a Senate committee report into the expenses claimed and then repaid by Senator Mike Duffy and compare it to the committee's altered final report.

On May 9, the Senate's committee on internal economy tabled reportson the audits of expense claims by three senators. The audits wereconducted by the outside firm Deloitte.

The reports recommended that Liberal Senator Mac Harb and Independent Senator Patrick Brazeau repay $51,000 and $48,000 respectively and placed the two senators' expensesunder greater scrutiny for the next year. Both have since said that they will fight the findings of the committee, and Harb quit the Liberal caucus to sit as an Independent while he seeks to overturn the report.

A third report on the expenses claimed by P.E.I. Senator Mike Duffy differed from the other two.Two paragraphs are absent in the final report that said the language in the Primary and Secondary Residence Declaration form signed by all senators was considered to be "unambiguous" and that the intent of the Senate's guidelines are "very clear."

CBC News's Chris Hall reported Thursday the Duffy reportwas altered in thehours before it was tabledto remove the finding that Duffy's travel patterns do not supporthis declaration of a primary residencein P.E.I.

Senators must reside in the province they are appointed to represent, accordingto the Constitution Act.

The final report was the work of committee chair, SenatorDavid Tkachuck, and Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former press secretary. A third member of the committee, Liberal George Furey, told the Senate May 9 that the final report's findingsshould not be deemed to be unanimous.

Opposition politicians allege the changes amount to a "whitewash," while Conservative senators say the final report merely acknowledges the factDuffy had already repaid more than $90,000 he had claimed in expenses. That repayment came after a personal cheque was written by the prime minister's then chief of staff, Nigel Wright, who has since resigned.

Here are the draft and final versions of the Duffy report (pdfs):

Draft report

Final report tabled May 9