• Make online expense reporting mandatory for Senators and MPs and follow Alberta’s example
• Eliminate pension entitlements for Senators and MPs convicted of stealing from taxpayers with fraudulent expense claims
• Apply the Access to Information Act to Parliament

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OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to introduce an Accountability Act 2.0, to put an end to expense fraud by Senators and restore the confidence of Canadians in Parliament.(Photo: The Senate:Wikipedia/Mightydrake)

The CTF is proposing five tenets to the Accountability Act 2.0. They include mandatory online reporting of office, travel, and hospitality expenses for all MPs and Senators (including receipts), annual random audits of MPs and Senators by the auditor general, applying the Access to Information Act to MPs and Senators, scrapping pension entitlements for those convicted of stealing from taxpayers, and the ability to recall parliamentarians.

“When the Conservatives were elected in 2006 they brought in the first Accountability Act in response to the sponsorship scandal, now it’s time for the Accountability Act 2.0 to clean up the senate expense scandal,” said Gregory Thomas, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“It’s not good enough to throw a few Senators under the bus and sweep the problem back under the rug,” continued Thomas. “We need a new Accountability Act. This isn't about 'closing loopholes,' it's about fixing the system.”

The Alberta government introduced rules this past fall to require all elected officials, political staff and senior bureaucrats to post not only their expenses, but their receipts online.

“Had these rules been in place for Parliament two years ago, Senator Duffy’s receipts would have shown that he wasn’t spending much time in PEI while claiming a housing allowance,” continued Thomas.

Thomas said Senators and MPs convicted of filing fraudulent expense claims should lose their generous pension entitlements, much like the law recently passed in Nova Scotia by the NDP government.

“There needs to be a cost associated with ripping off taxpayers,” said Thomas. “Otherwise this is never going to stop.”

The CTF first called for introduction of the “Raymond Lavigne Rule” – named after former Senator Raymond Lavigne – in 2011 after Lavigne qualified for his Senate pension despite his fraud conviction.

If Senators Brazeau, Harb, and Duffy remain in office until the mandatory retirement age of 75, they would collect inflation-adjusted annual pensions: Brazeau would be eligible for a $200,000 pension in 2049. Harb would receive $136,000 starting in 2028 while Duffy would collect $58,000 beginning in 2021.