Transparent Cynicism

"The investigation has shown that Brazeau does not live in Maniwaki, nor does he own a home there. Brazeau's father resides in Maniwaki, but the senator, since being appointed to the Senate, has not.
"Not only did he not live at the residence ... they (Brazeau and his ex-girlfriend) would sometimes stay with their children in a hotel when visiting Brazeau's father, so that he was not disturbed.
"As such, I believe that declaring that his father's residence as a primary residence, while filing expense claims for a rental home where he actually resided, constitutes an offence of breach of trust."
RCMP lead investigator, Cpl. Greg Horton: court document

Senator Patrick Brazeau, at one time national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the Senate in 2009 to sit as a Conservative. For his part, Senator Brazeau, like his colleagues, Mike Duffy and Mac Harb, has denied any wrong-doing in the matter for which he is being charged. He pointed out the presence of an email from Senate finance director Nicole Proulx directing him to submit an expense claim if he wished to rent an apartment.

"I do not interpret Ms. Proulx's response as authorization for Senator Brazeau to commence with claiming an N(ational) C(apital) R(egion) housing allowance, but rather direction on where Ms. Rochon (Brazeau's executive assistant) can read the policy pertaining to such matters", responded Cpl. Horton in his court-presented document with his investigative findings. Senator Brazeau's claims were for a much shorter duration than the decade-claims of both Senators Duffy and Harb.

Senator Brazeau's claims appear to have been initiated when he was presumably finding himself under financial duress as a result of his December 2010 marriage dissolution when he left the family home located in Gatineau, Quebec, and where he had been living since his Senate appointment, with his family; well within the 100-kilometre radius to Parliament Hill. Senator Brazeau appears to have lived in various temporary places following his marriage-breakdown.

Finally Senator Brazeau signed a 27-month rental lease for a home in Gatineau, in March 2011. And it was then that he filed a residency claim with the Senate, making claim that his primary residence was located in Maniwaki and his Gatineau home represented a secondary residence, rendering him eligible to claim the $22,000 annual housing allowance. This may have occurred, wrote Const. Horton "possibly in an effort to alleviate some of the financial burden as a result of his marriage breakup."

There is now ample evidence through enquiries and responding narratives that Senator Brazeau "never lived in Maniwaki". His former girlfriend with whom he lived after the dissolution of his marriage informed police that Senator Brazeau took day trips and overnight visits with family in Maniwaki "but he does not have a residence there". Two tenants of the Maniwaki house owned by Senator Brazeau's father also informed investigators that Patrick Brazeau did not live there.

While Senator Brazeau's behaviour is not nearly as egregious as that of his colleagues, both of whom are under investigation for wrong-doing as well, and there are mitigating circumstances in his background, there do not appear to be any in theirs apart from sheer unadulterated greed. Which hardly excuses Senator Brazeau from responsibility for his deliberate act of claiming expenses he was not due.

His life-choices and circumstances are his alone, for which it is up to him to find a legitimate way to find solutions for. The Canadian taxpayer should be able to expect far better conduct from its (previously) trusted Senate appointees.