Veteran political journalist and commentator Paul Wells analyzes the ongoing Senate spending scandal on The West Block with Tom Clark.
During the show Sunday, one Conservative stalwart in the upper chamber said he can’t support the motions on the table to suspend three of his colleagues without pay.
Conservative Senator Marjory LeBreton, meanwhile, said she believes the Senate is acting well within its rights and trying to impose the sanctions necessary to restore public confidence in the institution.
The differing views illustrate the division the debates are causing within the Conservative Party—a fact that can’t work in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s favour, Wells said.
“When LeBreton and Plett can’t agree on appropriate process in the Senate—there are hardly two more long-lasting members in the Harper inner circle—and when there’s that kind of dissension internally, it’s not good,” he said. “Harper needs to a) decide on a clear line, and b) start to repeat it often enough that people can pick up the tune.”
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