Senate suspensions blog: Could taxpayers still be on the hook?

The Conservative government is determined to make the disgraced three walk the plank.

In a statement emailed to the Ottawa Press Gallery this afternoon by Claude Carignan, the government leader in the Senate, a now-familiar refrain was repeated.

“Canadians have waited too long for action, and the time has come to hold these Senators accountable for abusing the taxpayer by removing them from the public payroll.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Canadians have waited too long for action, and the time has come to hold these Senators accountable for abusing the taxpayer by removing them from the public payroll."

This message was clearly aimed at those who are outraged that Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau are still sitting in the upper chamber, collecting their generous salaries.

But there is one question Carignan hasn’t answered.

What about their pensions? If suspended, would that two-year time out count as pensionable time?

A senator must have been in that post for six years and be age 55 or older in order to begin collecting a pension. Since all three Stephen Harper appointees took their seats in early 2009, they still have two years to go before they become eligible. Brazeau is the only one under 55 years old.

So is there a possibility the three senators could end up collecting a pension if their time as suspended senators ends up being pensionable time?

We tried to ask Carignan about this on Thursday. He wouldn’t answer.

I asked Senate communications today. No response.

So I went looking through the Senate rules, hoping for some information and came across this section:

Avoiding disqualification:

15-2. (4) To avoid disqualification, a Senator who is on leave of absence or under suspension for more than a full session may attend the Senate once every session, provided that:

(a) the Senator shall send to the Clerk a signed notice indicating an intention to attend;
(b) the Clerk shall table the notice; and
(c) the Senator may then attend, but only on the sixth day the Senate sits after the notice was tabled by the Clerk.

REFERENCE: Constitution Act, 1867, section 31

Could Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau appear once every session until 2015 to prevent disqualification? What if they’re receiving benefits during this time? Does that change the game? Does that count as pensionable time or not?

We still don’t know. But if they end up getting pensions, guess who pays for that?

You, the taxpayer.

There are only two conceivable reasons for why we can’t get a straight answer on this:

a) they know the answer but don’t want us to report it
b) they actually don’t know, since we may be in uncharted waters

Either way, Canadians deserve to know.