Members of Parliament are ready to let Auditor-General Sheila Fraser conduct a review of Parliamentary spending that would include and examination of how the politicians spend their own allotted sums.
At a press conference, Ms. Fraser said she would be looking at some specific expenses incurred by MPs but would not be reviewing their overall office budgets, nor would she be calling individual members on their spending practices.
If, for example, an MP were found to have used public funds to buy a condo in Florida, the audit would not provide details of that abuse.
Ms. Fraser also said she would look at a statistical sampling of the politicians and expand the audit only if her initial examination turned up widespread irregularities.
Ms. Fraser told reporters that, if the audit turned up issues of a criminal nature, she would turn the matter over to the police.
She asked nearly a year ago for permission to audit Parliament's expenses, including the expenses of MPs and senators. But, last month, the MPs responded by saying thanks but no thanks – the Auditor would not be welcome near their books.
That sparked a public outcry that saw every party take it on the chin – except the members of the Bloc Québécois who said they welcomed the inspection.
Ms. Fraser met with representatives of all parties in the House on Monday in an attempt to work out a framework for an audit. And now Conservative House Leader Jay Hill and Liberal MP Marcel Proulx seem set to announce that they have had a change of heart.
After expense scandals in Britain and Nova Scotia, the pressure has been on parliamentarians to open up their books to Ms. Fraser and modernize the way they do business.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has urged its 74,000 members to write to their parliamentarians and urge them to allow Ms. Fraser to do her work.
As it stands under the rules governing parliamentarians' expenses, if an MP claims 53 cents a kilometre for a return trip to his or her riding, no one will check whether the trip actually occurred, or whether the MP hitched a ride with a colleague who also claimed the mileage. And the per diem for food will be paid out if requested, even if the MP received a free lunch.
