THUNDER BAY – POLITICS – This past week Canada’s Auditor General delivered his much anticipated report on the Senate expense scandal. It found that Liberal and Conservatives senators had misused more than $1 million of your money (between just April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2013) on everything from rounds of golf, to fishing trips, and in one case to fly their staff out for a party to celebrate the Senators 50th wedding anniversary.
In all, the cases of 30 senators will be handed off to the RCMP (on top of 4 others previously referred) for investigations into breach of trust and fraud. Here is the list of all senators, their party, the Prime Minister that appointed them, and how much they are believed to have misappropriated (* = referred to RCMP before Auditor General Report):
Mac Harb – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $231,649*
Rod Zimmer – Liberal – Paul Martin – $176,014
Marie Charette-Poulin – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $131,434
Pamela Wallin – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $121,348*
Rose-Marie Losier-Cool – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $110,051
Mike Duffy – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $90,172*
Sandra Lovelace Nicholas – Liberal – Paul Martin – $75,227
Gerry St. Germain – Conservative – Brian Mulroney – $67,588
Pierre-Hughes Boisvenu – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $61,076
Patrick Brazeau – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $51,482*
Nick Sibbeston – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $50,102
Don Oliver – Conservative – Brian Mulroney – $48,088
Colin Kenny – Liberal – Pierre Elliot Trudeau – $35,549
Terry Mercer – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $29,338
Dennis Patterson – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $22,985
Janis Johnson – Conservative – Brian Mulroney – $22,706
Joseph Day – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $19,364
Bill Rompkey – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $17,292
Lowell Murray – Conservative – Joe Clark – $16,300
Vivienne Poy – Liberal – Jean Chretien – 15,317
Robert Peterson – Liberal – Paul Martin – $11,493
James Cowan – Liberal – Paul Martin – $10,397 (Opposition Leader in the Senate)
Elaine McCoy – Liberal – Paul Martin – $10,298
Noel Kinsella – Conservative – Brian Mulroney – $9,386
Leo Housakos – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $8,319 (Speaker of the Senate)
Sharon Carstairs – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $7,528
David Tkachuk – Conservative – Brian Mulroney – $7,391
Pana Merchant – Liberal – Jean Chretien – $5,500
Terry Stratton – Conservative – Brian Mulroney – $5,466
Don Plett – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $4,095
Jean-Guy Dagenais – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $3,538
Claude Carignan – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $3,516 (Government Leader in the Senate)
Nicole Eaton – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $3,489
Nancy Greene Raine – Conservative – Stephen Harper – $2,800
As you can see, the senate is an equal opportunity trough for Liberal and Conservative senators alike. New Democrats have always believed that the unelected and unaccountable senate has no place in a modern democracy. These people have been appointed to the senate for no other reason than to fundraise for the party’s that appoint them, and to undermine the will of the democratically elected House of Commons at the direction of their partisan masters.
Should you elect New Democrats to govern this fall we will immediately begin negotiations with the provinces to abolish the senate and to restore power to Canada’s democratically elected House of Commons. What’s more, we also call in the Auditor General to examine our own expenses in the House of Commons and to overhaul the administration of parliament to ensure this abuse of your tax dollars never happens again. You can support our efforts today at: www.rolluptheredcarpet.ca
John Rafferty MP
Thunder Bay Rainy River
