According to a report on CBC News, the Auditor General of Canada will be conducting a review of all Senate spending as the high-profile expenses scandal continues to make waves in Ottawa:
The Senate’s internal economy committee has accepted a plan by the federal auditor general to review all senators’ expenses, including travel and office expenses, CBC News has learned.
Sources have told CBC News that senators will be required to co-operate.
Auditor General Michael Ferguson was first called to meet with the Senate’s committee on internal economy in June, in the wake of the committee’s reports on independent audits of expense claims by senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Mac Harb.
That committee issued a report on an audit of Senator Pamela Wallin’s travel expenses this week. It recommended she pay back more than $121,000 in expense claims and that restrictions be placed on her travel routes. They are also reviewing a further $20,978 in questionable claims and she could be asked to pay some of them back.
Elizabeth Marshall, who is head of an audit subcommittee, told members of the larger internal economy committee when it met this week to discuss the Wallin report that the auditor general had a comprehensive plan to review all senators’ expenses.
The report also notes that the audit may take up to eighteen months to complete.
