OTTAWA – The manager of a Toronto arts club says Senator Pamela Wallin was never scheduled to appear or speak there even though the Saskatchewan senator originally billed taxpayers for the travel.
Wallin eventually paid the Senate back for most of the two trips to Toronto in July 2012, but still owes about $260, an audit into her expenses found.
Fiona McKeown, who manages the Toronto Arts & Letters Club, said there is no record of Wallin attending or even being scheduled to speak at the club.
“There’s no reason at all for her to have been here,” said McKeown. “The club has no record of an event that she was invited to speak at.”
A Deloitte audit released Tuesday shows Wallin initially charged the Senate more than $7,100 for travel from Saskatoon to Toronto and back, which included an event and speech at the “Arts and Letters Club” in Toronto.
The event had to do with Wallin speaking to “a senior’s group that meets informally” about military training in Afghanistan. Wallin’s office told auditors it was cancelled on the event date.
Wallin repaid most of the money related to the trips before the audit was released, because they appeared to be of a personal interest.
McKeown said the club is basically closed for July and August, with the exception of movie nights on Mondays and Friday lunches.
The club on Elm St. in downtown Toronto is billed as a gathering place “for people who love arts.” Monthly events include literary and music luncheons, dinners, musicals and stage productions, and art exhibitions.
McKeown said Wallin could have been casually meeting someone at the club – but it would not have been an official club event.
“I suppose a member could invite her to come in, you know, we have a bar, chat in the lounge or something,” she said.
McKeown added it’s possible Wallin was referring to another club, but there is only one official Arts and Letters Club in Toronto – the one named in the Deloitte audit.
When asked to explain which club Wallin was talking about, Wallin’s lawyer Terrence O’Sullivan said he couldn’t elaborate on specific events.
“I can’t help you at the present time and my client is presently unavailable and so I understand your question but I’m simply not able to assist,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
Wallin said in a public statement Monday the audit was flawed and unfair, but she will pay back any amount owing. She said she never intended to seek money for travel expenses when she did not believe such a claim was proper.
“Where I made mistakes, I have already paid money back,” she said.
In total, the Senate ordered Wallin to repay more than $121,00, with another $21,000 under review. Wallin has already repaid more than $38,300.
The first event at the club is listed in the audit during the week of July 9 to 13, 2012.
Wallin flew from Saskatoon to Toronto on July 9 and returned on July 13, at a cost of $2,077.44, the audit said.
Wallin’s office told auditors she was “scheduled to attend an Arts and Letters Club Event.”
Her office said the club “is a senior’s group that meets informally. The Senator was asked to speak about the military and training role in Afghanistan. The event was cancelled on the event date.”
McKeown said her club would not be described as a senior’s group, and would not typically host such topics.
The club can also be rented out by non-members, but if a scheduled event was cancelled, the club would have known about it, she said.
“We are an arts club. We perform, we have musicians and visual artists and we have writers and sculptors. We don’t serve in the army,” said McKeown.
“We had no event scheduled for that date. Never.”
Toronto NDP MP Craig Scott, who said he is familiar with the club, said it’s not the type of place he would associate with doing Senate business.
“I would say that it’s another example of inconsistencies that the Deloitte audit already pointed out,” he said.
He added it was unlikely the club was hosting an event about Afghanistan, unless Wallin was speaking with an author or something along those lines.
“It shows that the problems might run quite deep with respect to how accurate she was being.”
The audit also said Wallin attended a cancer awareness event that week to honour a Toronto philanthropist.
In total, Wallin paid back $1,746.36 for the trip on June 26, 2013. Auditors said she still owes another $328.08.
The second event at the club was included in Wallin’s travel from July 26 to 29, 2012.
There is no description aside from “Senate Business – Speech to Arts and Letters Club,” but the audit said Wallin flew to Toronto on July 26.
“The Senator’s Office represented that this trip was for the Senator’s private business, and that the related expenses should not have been charged to the Senate,” the audit said.
On Nov. 21, 2012, Wallin repaid $5,121.20 for the trip.
But the audit said she owes slightly less: $5,061.20.
It does not say whether she will get her $60 back.
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