JMH - Comments

Does it really matter if Mike Duffy lives full-time in PEI.... if he has a cottage, and if he represents the island, can he not use his cottage in the spring, summer and fall? Is he not always available from his Ottawa office? Can he not be in PEI in a matter of hours if he is needed there? Big IF.

One observation.... if the Government insists that an appointed Senator should have full-time residence in the province they are representing... and if a cottage does not fit the bill... then how did this slip by the Office of the Government. This kind of bookeeping should be done well before anybody is even appointed. Would Mr. Duffy have just given his address - is that how simple it would be - and nobody knows or cares or checks that this is a cottage... then x number of years later this is a big surprise.

What we should be concerned about is that somehow our elected members of parliament and appointed senators are spending money inappropriately and nobody is calling them on it until after the fact....

Why does the government not have COMPLETE CONTROL of all money spent by our MPs and Senators. Every cent spent should be accounted for. If this is done properly there will be no surprises. These figures should be available for the public to view...

As an example, why on earth would any MP get away with paying money for a wedding... let's just say a request is submitted for $15,000 (one has to assume that this money was requested and that some person in the Office of the Government gave the OK). But wouldn't you think that right away the receipts, the description of what the money was used for would indicate that this is not something that the government should pay for -- obviously not something a politician should even be submitting. Immediately a red flag should go up.

Are these politicians so arrogant or just plain stupid that they think the money collected from the tax payers of Canada should cover wedding expenses. This is just an example. How carefully does the Accounts Payable Office in the Government scrutinize money spent by the politicians. It is obvious that there are many many loopholes that these politicians wiggle around to try and get as much money as they possibly can. It is also very obvious that the Government does not question how this money is spent. Time to shape up.

The best policy would be that the general public be given access to the expense accounts of all politicians. After all each politician is spending thousands and thousands of dollars yearly - shouldn't we be able to see how this money is spent. Would this make a difference ... one would certainly think so!

smarten up....more accountability with rigid guidelines should be implemented immediately, this information should be public.... after all who is really the employer here!!!!