Sheila Fraser who is a Canadian hero and the rest of the time is the Auditor-General, wants to take a little look at how MPs are
wasting
(ok, that was my word) spending our taxpayer cash.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser is proposing the first audit of Parliament in 15 years, but resistance is already building among MPs over the access Ms. Fraser, who audits the entire government for Parliament, should have to their own spending details.
NDP MP Pat Martin, while praising Ms. Fraser’s reputation as a hero for her work on the Liberal sponsorship scandal, said she should not be allowed to delve deeply into spending details, including millions of dollars worth of expenses and free air travel.
“I’m not ready to endorse that,” said Mr. Martin.
[…] Liberal MP Derek Lee was also reluctant to support a sweeping audit of the kind Ms. Fraser routinely does on government departments and agencies, saying an internal audit by Parliament would be preferable.
How about this: We don’t give a rat’s patootie what you think. Now turn over your receipts and do it now. ? I know—too radical. That ain’t liberal. Must deploy the official tea and bun arsenal and have a nice chat for eighteen months first, during which time we will do the Saddam Hussein Cha-Cha and hide all the yucky-looking stuff.
Then a Conservative said things.
Conservative MP Garth Turner said Ms. Fraser should have access to all those spending details. “It should be transparent,” said Mr. Turner. “You can’t have two sets of rules in this country. If you’re going to subject other people to the bright light of day, then we should be there too.”
What he said.
Of course this comes on the heels of a report found only on page Q-79 of obscure newspapers, which said things like this:
Frugal Tory travel and hospitality claims raise Liberal eyebrows
[…] according to newly released travel and hospitality expenses.
A number of Conservative ministers recorded zero hospitality in the three-month summer quarter, including Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, Loyola Hearn at Fisheries and House Leader Rob Nicholson.
When they sat in opposition, the Tories dined out on tales of then-immigration minister Joe Volpe’s $138 pizzas, and former Mint president David Dingwall’s $800 dinners for two.
Now that they’re in government, the Conservatives are actually raising hackles with their frugality.
Ralph Goodale, the former Liberal finance minister who instituted the quarterly reporting requirement in 2004, said Monday he finds the latest posted results odd.
“I think there are some questions to be asked here about whether the reporting process is being followed exactly as it is intended to be followed, and whether the government is giving Canadians the whole story and the straight goods.”
[…] [Conservative Environment Minister Rona] Ambrose’s half-year hospitality bill of $814 makes her look like a piker compared to Stephane Dion, who charged $14,408 over the course of 2005…
Memo to media reporter: For the record, and this is a little off-topic, but Rona Ambrose looks decidedly NOT like “a piker”. Suggest use of other words here.
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(Hat tip: Maureen)
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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