Senate expenses scandal back to centre stage today

The Senate expenses scandal returns to centre stage in Parliament this week, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper back in Ottawa from a trip to Peru and opposition parties primed for question period.

A former RCMP superintendent said Sunday he's never seen the degree of political control over the Mounties that exists now, adding that it "does not bode well" for an objective police investigation of the Senate scandal.

Gary Clement, a 30-year veteran of the force who spent more than half those years working in the national capital region, told CTV Sunday that the thrust of the RCMP investigation will likely centre around Section 122 of the Criminal Code and breach of trust.

"From my read of the act and what's been alleged through the media, I think they've got pretty strong grounds," Clement said.

The Mounties are taking a preliminary look at the expenses of three senators, Mike Duffy, Patrick Brazeau and Mac Harb. All three claimed housing expenses that were deemed inappropriate and have repaid, or are being asked to repay, tens of thousands of dollars.

In the case of Sen. Duffy, Harper's chief of staff Nigel Wright secretly gave him $90,000 to pay off his inappropriate expenses. Wright subsequently resigned.

Duffy's refund was then used by him to deny co-operation with independent forensic auditors, and the refund has since been cited by top Conservative senators as the reason why a Senate committee report deleted language that was critical of Duffy's actions.

Also yesterday, Marjory LeBreton, government leader in the Senate, made the media rounds, telling CBC News Liberal senators must pass new rules governing Senate expenses and travel before the summer "otherwise the Senate as an institution cannot survive."

Senate Opposition Leader James Cowan said the Conservatives are trying to deflect attention from the $90,000 cheque the prime minister's chief of staff gave to Duffy to repay his ineligible Senate expenses.

According to Cowan, the Liberals in the Senate agreed to pass the new rules last week.

"The Conservatives have the majority in the Senate. They could have passed it last Wednesday if they wanted to, they could pass it next Tuesday if they want to. It's up to them. It's not up to us. We're not delaying anything."

Talk of abolishing the Senate and passing what most see as "minor" rule changes is "a desperate attempt by them to change the channel," Cowan said.

With a growing political crisis on his hands, and both his personal credibility and political brand at stake, Harper will have little choice but to face the opposition now that he is back from a visit to South America.

Harper has said he did not know about Wright's so-called gift to Duffy beforehand and denied the government is keeping documents about the arrangement from the opposition. "I'm not aware of any formal agreement on this," Harper said last Thursday during a press conference in Cali, Colombia.

LeBreton also pleaded ignorance on Sunday. "As far as I know, there's no documents or there was no paper trail," LeBreton said.

"I've been in that prime minister's office myself, and I know what kind of a pressure-cooker it is. And it's just my own personal opinion but Nigel [Wright] probably thought he could help fix this."

NDP Democratic Reform critic Craig Scott told CBC News "whether or not a higher-up in the Conservative Party knew about the deal is exactly what we all need to know."

But LeBreton maintained that neither the prime minister nor the party could be blamed for Wright's personal actions and that Duffy was initially taken at this word.

"You can hardly fault the Conservative Party or the government for something we didn't know about," LeBreton said.

"I can understand the public's concern but the facts are the facts. The facts that I believed, the government believed, is what Senator Duffy said that he borrowed money from the RBC to repay his expense claims."

According to Scott, Harper could have told Wright to "make this problem go away" before the Deloitte audit was completed leaving the details up to his chief of staff.

"It's not impossible that that's the scenario," Scott said.

Harper accepted Wright's resignation after the PMO said he still enjoyed the "full confidence" of the prime minister.

While Harper will have to face the opposition parties in the Commons, Conservative Senator David Tkachuk will have to face the Liberals in the Senate.

Tkachuk, who is the chair of the Senate's committee on internal economy, raised several eyebrows in an interview he gave Maclean's last Thursday, when he said he sought "advice from all kinds of people" including the PMO, his colleagues, fellow senators, members of the media and others before submitting the final report on Duffy's expenses.

CBC News reported last Thursday the Duffy report was altered in the hours before it was tabled, to remove the finding that Duffy's travel pattern does not support his declaration of a primary residence in P.E.I.

Cowan told CBC News the latest revelations by Tkachuk raise more questions about undue influence the prime minister's office may have had on the final Duffy report.

"I'm going to have a series of questions for Senator Tkachuk on Tuesday afternoon when the Senate meets," Cowan said.

The Senate decided to send Duffy's audit report back to its internal economy committee for a second review and while Cowan would have preferred that the Senate refer the matter to the RCMP, Cowan has asked that Tkachuk hold the meetings in public.

As of Sunday, Cowan said he had not heard back from Tkachuk.

In an email to CBC News on Sunday, Tkachuk confirmed he would be back in Parliament this week after being away due to recent surgery.

The RCMP confirmed in a letter to the Senate it is conducting a review of the Deloitte reports into senators Patrick Brazeau, Mac Harb and Duffy.

The Mounties have asked the Senate for policy documents relating to living expenses and travel to determine "whether there are grounds to commence a criminal investigation."

The federal ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson, is examining whether Wright violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he gave Duffy more than $90,000 to repay his housing expenses.

The Senate Ethics Officer Lyse Ricard has also been asked to look into Wright's gift to Duffy.

Deloitte is also currently reviewing the expenses of Senator Pamela Wallin, who has claimed approximately $321,000 in travel expenses since September 2010.

Sources have told CBC News Wallin may have to repay thousands in ineligible travel claims.

The report into Wallin's expenses is expected before the Senate rises in June.