OTTAWA — The Senate’s internal economy committee has decided that all senators will soon have to be more transparent about their expenses.
Thursday’s decision by the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration to update the proactive disclosure policy means senators’ offices will have to offer more detail on spending, a move which could fulfill recommendations made by Canada’s Auditor General but which will also cost more than $500,000 in its first year.
Disclosures will now include all living, travel and hospitality expenses, and all contracts, too, complete with the names of suppliers.
During his criminal trial, Senator Mike Duffy was accused of using a “slush fund” to expense miscellaneous contracts without disclosing where money was going. For example, he used Senate money to pay for a makeup artist and a speechwriter.
Duffy was recently acquitted of all charges, including the ones that dealt with those expenses. He returned to Parliament this week.
The Senate appears to be following through on recommendations made in the wake of recent spending scandals.
At present, the Senate discloses some information on a quarterly basis, but per an Auditor General’s report released last June that disclosure “lacks detail.”
Some senators offer more information on their individual websites — a policy the Senate’s Liberal caucus adopted together — but the current system doesn’t do enough, the Auditor General found.
The Auditor General report said senators’ offices should include details such as dates, full breakdowns of costs, reimbursements of costs incurred for personal activities and explanations of the parliamentary purposes of expenses.
The Senate could start disclosing more detailed reports as early as October, after it has had the chance to collect information for July, August and September. If not, the first batch will come out the next quarter, in January.
The new system offices will use is expected to come at a one-time cost of $330,000 and an ongoing budget of $187,000, according to a document tabled in committee. The cost became a point of contention, with some senators saying Thursday they thought it an excessive cost to the taxpayer.
More than one Liberal senator pointed out that disclosures they make on their personal websites have come at no extra cost to the Senate.
Still, according to the Senate, the system will help it save on administration costs because it will streamline the way expenses are reported.
Conservative senator Leo Housakos, the committee chair, remarked at the end of the meeting that “collectively we’ve made history.”
He said so not because of the proactive disclosure decision, but because of what was seen as a proactive decision by the committee itself.
Thursday’s meeting didn’t include any private, in-camera deliberations. It was fully open to the public — “And that is a historic thing for any committee of internal economy on both sides,” Housakos said.
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