Irritating Irrelevant Oversight

 "During subsequent inquiries with Mr. Belisle by investigators on my team, Mr. Belisle stated that he has no recollection of sch a conversation, and would refer senators to Senate legal counsel for such questions. It was not in his purview to provide such direction."
RCMP investigator Cpl. Greg Horton

 "Senator Harb didn't come to me and say, 'I have a problem, what do you think of this?" complained Senator James Cowan, Liberal House leader in the Upper Chamber. For his part he hasn't been lax in his duty to remind his caucus that expenses must be in order. Sit beside individual senators to review their expense-related documentation? What for? They're intelligent, accustomed to rules and regulations and accountability incumbent upon them through the honour system employed in the Senate, after all.

"The Clerk of the Senate informed me that pursuant to Senate guidelines, I could designate my new home as my primary residence, as it was more than 100 kilometres from Parliament Hill", wrote Senator Mac Harb. "I consulted with the Clerk of the Senate, Paul Belisle, whether I was allowed to declare my new home as my primary residence, given that it was a new home and that I had previously resided in Ottawa", claimed his sworn statement.

Strange logic, that. Senator Harb seems to collect residences as an investment hobby. Apart from the home he has shared with his wife for decades while living in Ottawa and gaining experience as a politician, at the municipal and then at the federal level. Experience that armed him more than adequately, obviously, with the rules of conduct and the concern over personal responsibility as someone elected to public office and whose gainful salary is paid by the public purse known as taxation.

But then, no one is elected to the Senate of Canada. It has always been a highly venerated institution of Parliament where Canadians who have been outstanding as good citizens representing any number of trades and professions, including the political arena, have been elevated through appointment. And where their acumen has been relied upon to aid legislation vetting and voting on MP-originated texts and laws. Was perhaps Senator Harb of the opinion that non-elected parliamentarians haven't the same rigorous obligations as elected ones?

Senator Harb purchased a home in Cobden, Ontario, located roughly 120 kilometres from Parliament Hill, three short months after he was appointed to the Senate by then-prime minister Jean Chretien. Court documents written by RCMP investigator Cpl. Greg Horton claim that property to have been in an "uninhabitable" state for the next three years while it was undergoing renovations including a new well. But Senator Harb claimed that property as his primary place of residence and received a compensatory allowance for housing.

Senator Harb also, once the house in Cobden had been brought up to living condition, sold it to a foreign dignitary. And because he retained 0.01% ownership in the property, felt entitled to continuing to list it as his primary residence for the purpose of claiming the housing allowance. While still owning and living in a house he owned as well as a condominium whose address he used to receive official documentation and tax forms.

A rude assessment was made by an inspector for Lanark Mutual Insurance who inspected the home on Durack Line Road in Cobden, making note of its sparse furnishings and that the Senator appeared there merely several times a week by writing: "House needs a good cleaning. A lot of bird sh-- in the basement. A lot of mouse traps have been set. Mac said the bird problem has been fixed, still working on the mice ... Should this be a premium? House is not fully complete. Not lived in full-time. Don't raise coverage anymore."

That $22,000 additional yearly perquisite of disentitled claims along with his rather generous Senate salary of $132,000 with additional stipends relating to committee work, travel allowances and per diems must have been quite useful in allowing the good senator to become a proud owner of multiple properties within and without the National Capital Region in which he lived and worked. Including a later purchase of a home in Westmeath, about 20 kilometres from the House of Commons, enabling him to claim it, in turn as his primary residence.

No word as yet whether he intends to continue to sue the Senate for wrongfully reclaiming $51,000 which he feels should be returned to him. It appears quite likely that this sum represents merely the tip of the iceberg in amounts received by Senator Harb going years back, to benefits he was not entitled to, but which must have looked pretty good to him on his balance sheet.