Auditor General Set To Probe Expenses
Canada’s auditor general is readying his office for a Senate expense audit that will examine the spending practices of every member of the troubled upper chamber.
Michael Ferguson’s audit could take at least a year to complete, said a source familiar with the plan the auditor laid out earlier this week for the Senate’s internal economy committee.
The performance audit will look not only at individual senators, but also at how well the institution is managing its resources, said the source, who was unauthorized to disclose details and so spoke on condition of anonymity.
In an interview with Global News, Ferguson said his office would be looking at the expense claims of individual senators and “going through those on a specific basis.”
Ferguson said he expects to begin the audit shortly — a process that can take up to 18 months. And he’s leaving open the possibility of releasing initial findings long before the audit is completed.
“We haven’t come to that decision yet, but we understand that people don’t want to wait 18 months to get all the information,” the auditor general told Global. “So if there’s any way that we can do some interim reporting, we will do that.”
Senators At Boot Camp Told It's Okay To Bill For Partisan Travel Expenses
Meanwhile, it emerged Thursday that three former Conservative senators at the heart of the current spending scandal were given clear directions from their leader in the upper chamber that they could bill for certain partisan — that is, political — travel when they first arrived in the Senate.
The boot camp briefing was offered to the group of 18 senators appointed in late 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a group that included senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau.
Each is now under the spotlight for their spending claims — Duffy and Brazeau for housing expenses, and Wallin for travel — with auditors delivering withering reports.
