Senate approves expense audits
Posted Jun 7, 2013 05:40:03 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The Senate has approved a motion asking the auditor general to conduct an audit of Senate expenses.
The motion by the government leader in the Senate, Marjory LeBreton, was approved Thursday with backing from both Conservative and Liberal senators.
But the Liberals want auditor general Michael Ferguson to also conduct an audit of Prime Minister Harper’s office.
Liberal Senate Leader James Cowan says it is needed to get to the bottom of the most explosive element in the Senate expenses scandal — the involvement of Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright.
Wright resigned last month after news broke that he had personally gave 90-thousand dollars to Mike Duffy so the senator could reimburse improperly claimed expenses and housing allowances.
LeBreton says Cowan’s motion to ask for an audit of the P-M-O is a “political stunt.”
She says there’s no role for the auditor general in examining the Wright-Duffy transaction because it did not involve any taxpayers’ money.
