Senate has no idea how much it spends on French camp

OTTAWA – Senate officials don’t know how much taxpayer money has been spent on language training for Senators and their spouses this year.

The Senate pays for members of the upper chamber to study either French or English as part of a service with an annual budget of almost $5.8 million.

A spokeswoman couldn’t say who has used it or how much money has been spent – this year, or any year. She said it’s never been published.

“Under Senate Rules and policies, Senators may receive language training, paid by the Senate, in an official language of Canada,” Francine Pressault wrote in an email.

“The cost of this service has not been made available publicly before. We will have to make enquiries and compile the information in order to make any aggregate data publicly available.”

READ MORE: Senate refuses to divulge Duffy’s allegedly criminal expense claims

It also appears senators have free rein on where they go for training, for how long, and where they stay – as long as officials confirm there is enough money to go around.

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According to the Senate’s administrative rules, Senators and their spouses or common-law partners “are entitled to receive training in Canada in an official language of Canada that is not their first language.”

The rules say senators can also claim travel, accommodation and meal expenses for the training.

A Senator can arrange the training him- or herself and “shall advise the Senate Administration of the estimated costs of the training and obtain an assurance that adequate funds are available in the fiscal year before the costs are actually incurred.”

Training is included in the Senate’s “professional services, hospitality and meals” budget of $5.8 million a year. In 2013, the Senate spent $3.5 million; in 2012, $3.1 million.

Conservative Senator Don Meredith spent two weeks this month studying at a school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about 30 minutes southeast of Montreal.

https://twitter.com/SenatorDonM/status/509424872301555713

“I just wanted to do an intense thing. I’ve had a busy summer, and so two weeks before we resume Parliament I wanted to make sure that I get my lessons in, and during the year we’ll be adding tutoring and so on,” Meredith said from Quebec Thursday.

Meredith, who is from Toronto, took French classes until Grade 10. He said he’s learning everything from verb conjugation to Parliamentary language.

“It’s been very very intriguing,” he said.

Asked why he needs the training, Meredith said, “We live in a bilingual country.”

He said he stayed in a “low-cost hotel” but doesn’t know how much it cost.

“The important thing to stress is that we have the opportunity to be able to improve, for those who do not speak a second language or are not fully bilingual, to be able to improve their skills, and be able to communicate effectively to their constituency and also to participate fully in government debates as well as to meet foreign dignitaries when they do arrive in our country,” he said.

Members of Parliament are also eligible for language training. But in 2012, a policy change dictated that the cost for their spouses had to come out of individual office budgets.