Senators: entitled to their entitlements

Published February 13, 2014

It’s remarkable that senators, in the middle of a spending scandal that has come to define the Upper Chamber, would be so brazen in the dingwalling of taxpayers. But that’s how bad things have gotten in the Senate, governed by a policy that asks senators to exercise “sound judgment” when making travel-related decisions. CBC News […]

Appointed Senate takes another hit with criminal charges

Published February 4, 2014

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was right back in 2005, when he declared that an “appointed Senate is a relic of the 19th century.” The developments on Tuesday just reinforced this point, when the RCMP announced criminal charges against Mac Harb, who served as a Liberal senator for years before stepping down last year amid allegations. […]

Is Preston Manning’s Senate pitch really “minor renovation” or “better housekeeping”?

Published January 23, 2014

The founder of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy says the best way to deal with the Senate is either through “minor renovation” or “better housekeeping.” Speaking on CBC’s Power and Politics on Wednesday, Preston Manning said “at least democratize the thing and put in term limits.” If not, “the other one I picked was the […]

PMO: our lawyer’s emails were deleted… Just kidding!

Published December 2, 2013

The Prime Minister’s Office has had to rewrite most of its talking points on the Senate scandal, usually after facts surface that challenge the spin. Monday was no exception, after the PMO revealed that emails from Benjamin Perrin, a former PMO lawyer, had been found. They’ve now been turned over to the RCMP as part of its ongoing […]

Senate scandal update: compare QP clips to PMO emails

Published November 22, 2013

Court documents released this week must make Stephen Harper wish he could go back to the days when Question Period wasn’t televised. The RCMP’s 80-page document confirm Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright and Harper’s Senate appointee Mike Duffy are being investigated for bribery, frauds on the government and breach of trust. The […]

Let’s be “very clear” about the Senate scandal

Published November 18, 2013

The House of Commons returned Monday after a break week, and we expect the Senate scandal to come up. There are just too many questions still unanswered. It hasn’t helped that the Conservative government keeps changing its story whenever inconvenient facts surface showing their talking points to be untrue. The general consensus is the Conservatives […]

Tag: spending scandal