Senate spending scandal

[projekktor id=’19447′]
The long-awaited Auditor General’s report into the Senate spending scandal was released publicly this afternoon. A fishing trip, customized greeting cards and personal flights, those are just some of the questionable expenses filed by a number of sitting and retired Senators revealed in the report.

Now that he’s written the report, Michael Ferguson is calling for transformational change in the Senate after his investigation revealed some Senators haven’t been considering taxpayers when spending your money.

This audit looked at more than 80 000 expense claims made between April 2011 and March 2013 by 116 current and retired Senators. Accounts of 30 members have been flagged, 9 of those have been referred to the RCMP for either having been found to be primarily residing in the National Capital region or not cooperating with the audit or having missing documentation.

Ferguson says Senators should not be policing their own spending, citing examples where Senators appeared to charge taxis and holiday greeting cards to taxpayers when there were cheaper options available. Ferguson says Senators should give up oversight to an independent body.