That Elite Chamber

The Senate should give some sober second thought to its perquisites for its members who take advantage of opportunities to enrich themselves at the public purse through their unethical enterprise at manipulating a resource meant for other purposes.  Three senators have now been outed, two Conservative appointments and one Liberal in the Senate, who have taken it upon themselves to misrepresent themselves to enable them to qualify for additional funding.

Despite the fact that two of the senators have owned long-held primary residences in the nation's capital where they sit in the Senate, they have latterly availed themselves of secondary residences some distance from Ottawa, altering the status of their primary residences to secondary to allow them to charge up to $21,000 annually for housing and meals 'while away' from their primary residences.  In the third instance, a Senator claims his father's home as his primary residence, while living in Gatineau.

Mac Harb, a long-time political figure who sat in Parliament for the riding of Ottawa Centre for fifteen years as an MP was rewarded with a Senate position when he lost his seat in the House as a loyal Liberal in 2003 by a grateful Jean Chretien.  Although he has lived in Ottawa since coming to Canada in the 1970s and owns a home in the National Capital Region, along with a swack of other residential properties there, he latterly purchased a residence around Pembroke, 90 minutes from Ottawa.

It is that Pembroke residence he now claims as his principal residence, although he still lives in his Ottawa home.  And because Senate rules permit senators to charge for housing and meals in the capital while away from their primary residences, this is meant to be an assist for those who truly have their principal residence elsewhere.  Despite which, many senators choose not to invoke those perks even when they are more ethically entitled to do so.

Mr. Harb is not one of those who disdained the extra funding.  He has claimed $31,237 in living expenses since September 2010, on the basis of claiming his principal residence now being in the Pembroke area, identifying his Ottawa home as his secondary residence.  Under current Senate rules this is not deemed to be illegal, and is quite 'acceptable' to those administering those rules. 

Giving ample reason for Senate reform; greed sits too comfortably on the elite and the entitled.

But Mr. Harb of course is not alone.  Senator Mike Duffy has owned a home in Kanata, and has lived in Ottawa for over thirty years in his previous incarnation as a journalist covering Parliament Hill, before being appointed to the Senate by the Conservative government.  He now lists his primary residence as a home in Cavendish, P.E.I., a home he purchased in 1998, and where he spends the summer months.

Needless to say when the Senate sits through the balance of the year, Senator Duffy and Mrs. Duffy reside in their 'secondary residence', not so long ago their primary residence.  And because it is now listed as their secondary residence, Senator Duffy qualifies to claim $33,000 (2010-2011) in living expenses in Ottawa.  And Senator Duffy huffily insists, he has done 'nothing wrong', in making those living expense claims.

Senator Patrick Brazeau charged over $20,000 for living expenses incurred in his Gatineau home.  He has listed it as his secondary residence, his primary residence being listed as his father's house and property in Maniwaki.  The Senate's board of internal economy is looking into Senator Brazeau's claim to determine the legality of it, but the board's chair, Senator David Tkachuk sees nothing illegal in the claims submitted by Senators Duffy and Harb.

And a great big taxpaying Humph! to you...