A special arbitrator tasked with reviewing Senate expense claims has found 10 of 14 senators who contested the amount they needed to repay taxpayers don’t owe as much as previously ordered.
Former Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie was appointed last May to carry out a dispute resolution process after the federal auditor general released an explosive report into Senate expenses that flagged claims made by 30 current and former senators.
The senators were originally told they needed to repay nearly $1 million. Of the 30 senators named by the auditor general, however, 14 opted for arbitration to challenge the findings.
READ MORE: 5 things to know about the Senate expenses audit
Overall, the amount that Binnie now says the 14 senators must reimburse to taxpayers is about half of the amount originally flagged by the auditor general for the group. The arbitrator attributes the difference to the fact that he had more evidence to work with, including interviews with the senators, and that he counted some things ‘parliamentary’ business when the auditor general did not.
“In some instances I’ve taken a broader view of parliamentary purposes than did the auditor general,” Binnie told reporters following the release of his report.
For example, Senate Liberal Sandra Lovelace Nicholas attended a major annual conference in Vancouver in her role as an Aboriginal senator. While the auditor said that wasn’t technically Senate business, Binnie said he “believed it was within the role of a parliamentary function.”
WATCH: Binnie says many senate expense errors were simple mistakes
Four senators got bad news on Monday, however, as Binnie ruled they must pay back the full amount (give or take a few cents attributable to rounding) that the auditor said they owe.
On the lower end of the spectrum of possible repayments was Tory senator Don Plett, who contested $1,120 that the auditor said he must repay. Binnie has now lowered Plett’s repayment amount from $1,120 to $404.45.
READ MORE: Housakos, Cowan repay Senate expenses, deny wrongdoing
Lovelace Nicholas, meanwhile, challenged the repayment of a whopping $75,227. She will now owe $38,023.27.
The report comes just a few days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recommended seven new senators be appointed to the Upper Chamber. They will all be sitting as independents.
WATCH: Binnie doesn’t see his report as ‘exonerating’ Senator expense claims
Binnie said he is not attributing any motive (good or bad) to the senators’ attempts to claim expenses that may not have been within the rules. But one senator in particular, Colin Kenney, demonstrated a pattern of inappropriate travel claims that, taken together, had “an air of artificiality” about them, he noted.
READ MORE: Conservative senator resigns in wake of AG report
“I think you’ll find that the controls are tightened,” Binnie said of the possible fallout from his report and the auditor general’s work.
“I don’t see my report at all as exonerating abuse.”
WATCH: Binnie explains how he would avoid the sort of “confusion” which led to improper expense claims by Senators in Canada’s red chamber.
Senators who challenged the auditor general’s findings, and amount they have been told by Binnie they need to repay
- Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu must repay $20,467.33 of a contested, outstanding amount of $60,168
- Jean-Guy Dagenais must repay $2,267.15 of an outstanding amount of $3,538
- Joseph A. Day must repay $3,050.96 of an outstanding amount of $16,783.34
- Colin Kenney must repay $27,458.77 of an outstanding amount of $31,627.99
- Sandra Lovelace Nicholas must repay $38,023.27 of an outstanding amount of $75,227
- Pana Merchant must repay $820.38 of an outstanding amount of $4,989
- Terry M. Mercer must repay $10,536.10 of an outstanding amount of $29,338
- Lowell Murray must repay $15,324 out of an outstanding amount of $15,324
- Dennis Glen Patterson must repay $13,762 out of an outstanding amount of $13,762
- Robert W. Peterson must repay $11,492.61 out of an outstanding amount of $11,493
- Donald Plett must repay $404.45 out of an outstanding amount of $1,120
- Nick G. Sibbeston must repay $26,924.20 out of an outstanding amount of $50,102
- Terry Stratton must repay $5,466.70 out of an outstanding amount of $5,467
- David Tkachuk must repay $1,900.22 out of an outstanding amount of $3,470.43
TOTALS
Total amount auditor general said the 14 senators must repay: $322,611
Binnie’s new total: $177,898.14
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