Senator expenses disclosed, only elected senator tops the list

Recently released government documents indicate the country's senators continue to rack up the bills at taxpayers' expense.

In the last fiscal year, member's of Canada's upper chamber spent nearly $7.2-million on travel and more than $13.2-million on other expenses, according to a report in the National Post.

Ironically, the only elected person in the Senate, Bert Brown, is the country's most expensive senator.

Brown, who was appointed to the senate in 2007 after being nominated to be a senator-in-waiting by the voters of Alberta, spent nearly $180,000 on travel and another $151,000 for "research assistance, staff and other expenses."

Big spenders in the most recent quarter ending August 31, 2011 include Liberal senator James Cowan ($44,568) and Conservative senator Gerry St. Germain ($33,065) who, in 2009, sheepishly admitted to flying first-class to and from Ottawa.

While senators are expected to provide data on their total expenditures they're not required to publicly disclose information about specific expenses.

Gregory Thomas, national director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told PostMedia news Canadians deserve more details.

"It's not rocket science anymore to scan a receipt, put it on the Internet and folks go on and look at it," he said. "That's the level of disclosure we need."

For those keeping count, the total cost to taxpayers in 2010, for the unelected (with one exception), unaccountable, and seemingly ineffective senate was estimated to be about $107 million.