OTTAWA – An independent audit into Senator Pamela Wallin’s expense claims is almost ready for the eyes of the Senate – but the senator who heads the committee that will study it has yet to read a word.
“I purposely said I didn’t want to see the report because I wanted to wait to see it with the other members of the committee,” Conservative Senator Gerald Comeau, who chairs the Board of Internal Economy, said in an interview Wednesday. “This way I’ll be hearing the surprise just like everybody else on Monday morning.”
The independent firm Deloitte has completed its audit, which is currently being translated so it can be presented to the Senate in both official languages. That is expected to be completed by Monday morning, Comeau said.
Once the report is translated, a smaller steering committee – made up of Conservative Senator Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, Liberal Senator George Furey and Comeau – will be the first to see the report, during a briefing with Deloitte.
The committee and its former chair, Senator David Tkachuk, were under fire earlier this year, accused of whitewashing a similar report into Senator Mike Duffy’s housing and living allowances.
Along with a report into Duffy’s allowances, the committee had also ordered audits of the housing and living expenses claimed by Senators Patrick Brazeau and Mac Harb, as well as travel expenses Wallin claimed.
Duffy paid back more than $90,000 in ineligible expenses, using a personal cheque from the prime minister’s then-chief of staff, Nigel Wright.
Tkachuk later stepped down from the committee, citing health concerns. He denied the Duffy report was whitewashed, saying instead that changes were made to Duffy’s report because he’d already paid the money back.
Comeau’s decision to stay far away from the audit was partially driven by the controversy surrounding the Duffy report, he said.
“There have been accusations in the past that (the steering committee) was overstepping its boundaries, so I’m making it absolutely, abundantly clear we’re doing it by the book,” he said Wednesday from Moncton.
Considering Wallin, like Duffy, has already repaid some of her erroneously-claimed expenses, some are wondering whether the committee will weaken the language in her report as well.
“Like I said, I haven’t seen the report yet,” Comeau said. “Depending on what the report says, all avenues are open, all options open, and I’m completely prepared to listen to what the committee members have to say.”
After the steering committee is briefed, its members will prepare a preliminary report for the larger Board of Internal Economy.
The entire committee is scheduled to get a briefing on the report later Monday evening, then begin drafting its report the following morning.
Comeau said he hopes to file the committee’s report to the clerk “not too late” on Tuesday, at which point it can become public.
“If the report is harsh, we will be just as harsh as we need to be. But no, obviously we’re pleased that she was forthcoming with the Deloitte people, as I understand she has been,” Comeau said.
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