After Duffy verdict, focus turns to other senators and their cases

Sen. Mike Duffy has been acquitted by an Ottawa judge of all charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. The verdict on Thursday marks the long-awaited outcome, for all involved parties, of an investigation that began when the Conservative senator’s living expense claims were brought into the Senate investigation in early 2013.

But several other senators still await the outcomes of their own criminal investigations for improperly charging personal expenses to the Senate. And not all of the money deemed improperly expensed has been repaid — which means further charges could still come for them.

Duffy is one of three senators to face criminal charges related to an independent investigation by Deloitte LLP of Senate expenses. He was suspended from the Senate without pay in November 2013, but Thursday’s acquittal means he can return to his job in the Red Chamber. Senators Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau, and retired senator Mac Harb, are at various stages in the investigation or court case into their expenses.

And 30 more senators were flagged in a June 2015 investigation by federal Auditor General Michael Ferguson that found more than $322,000 in questionable claims for housing and travel. Nine of those senators were recommended by the auditor general for criminal investigation. The amount of questionable claims was slashed down by about 45 per cent last month by former Supreme Court judge Ian Binnie, acting as a special arbitrator. But that still leaves nearly $180,000 in personal expenses charged by senators.

Fourteen of the 30 senators initially named in Ferguson’s investigation agreed to binding arbitration with Binnie, who put together the report released last month, giving them 30 days to pay the remaining expenses. Nine others made repayments between Ferguson’s investigation and Binnie’s report. Seven senators rejected arbitration and could face garnished wages or legal action if they don’t make repayments.

Here is a look at the Senate cases still to come, and others that remain possible.

Patrick Brazeau

The Senate expenses scandal began in November 2012 in part because of living expenses claimed by Brazeau. That month CTV reporter interviewed residents of Maniwaki, Que., — which Brazeau claimed as his primary residence — who said that he did not live there. The Senate government leader announced a day later that a subcommittee would investigate if Brazeau violated Senate rules, and Deloitte was brought in to conduct an independent review as a result.

In the review, Deloitte determined that Brazeau spent only about 10 per cent of the time in Maniwaki, and as a result the Senate ruled that nearly $49,000 of housing expenses claimed were improper. Brazeau’s salary was reduced for repayment beginning July 2013, but he himself was suspended without pay in November the same year.

In February 2014 the RCMP announced that Brazeau was charged with fraud and breach of trust related to his Senate expense claims. His trial was scheduled to begin in March, but it was delayed to June 2017 to give him time to recover from a January suicide attempt.

Like Duffy, Brazeau’s suspension ended when Parliament was dissolved last August ahead of the federal election. He remains on a paid leave of absence from the Senate because of the pending criminal charges.

Pamela Wallin

Along with Brazeau’s living expenses, Wallin’s travel expense claims were the second catalyst for the beginning of the scandal thanks to travel patterns deemed unusual. Wallin claimed her primary residences in Saskatchewan and Ottawa but expenses frequent stops in Toronto while travelling between the two.

Investigations indicated that Wallin’s Toronto stops were related to personal or unrelated business and not Senate activities, and therefore ineligible to be expensed to the Senate. The independent Deloitte investigation found that more than $140,000 of Wallin’s reimbursed expenses were either ineligible or questionable.

Wallin made repayments for the expenses, but during a speech in the Senate she accused the body of ignoring the rule of law.

“If this chamber can take this extreme action with regard to a sitting senator, imagine what it can do to an ordinary citizen who crosses the government of the day,” Wallin said in October 2013, according to Senate records.

Wallin resigned from the Senate Conservative caucus in May 2013, and in November of the same year was suspended without pay. The RCMP identified several suspicious claims from Wallin, and in August 2015 referred its file to the Crown to determine if charges should be laid. She returned to work after the federal election in the fall, and the RCMP investigation remains ongoing.

Mac Harb

Harb, who retired from the Senate a few months after the scandal began, was brought into the Senate investigation in December 2012 due to media reports that questioned his living expense claims. The Ontario senator claimed his primary residences as first Cobden and later Westmeath, both in Ontario.

Harb was then brought into the Deloitte investigation that began in January 2013. During the course of that investigation, it was determined that Harb didn’t meet three of the four indicators of primary residence (driver’s licence, provincial health card, provincial tax return and voting location), and that he spent only about 21 per cent of his time at his primary residence.

After repaying more than $230,000 to the Senate, in part under protest, Harb announced his retirement in August 2013. His 15 years as an MP entitled him to a full parliamentary pension.

Harb was charged by the RCMP with fraud and breach of trust in February 2014. His trial, initially set to start in August 2015, was postponed to later in 2016 because the Duffy trial was going longer than planned.

Who avoided charges?

Other senators have made repayments for expenses deemed improper, and have avoided criminal charges.

Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu repaid about $20,500 as of Monday morning, according to Senate records. Boisvenu’s file was sent to the RCMP for investigation after the release of that report, but CP reports that he was told earlier this year that he wouldn’t face criminal charges.

A former senator, Terry Stratton, had also made repayments for expenses as of the morning of April 18. Stratton repaid nearly $5,500 in travel expenses for trips ultimately deemed by the auditor general and the Supreme Court to be more personal than work related.

But according to Senate records, seven more senators (all retired) have yet to make full repayments on Senate expenses. The deadline for such repayments is April 22, as set by the Senate. Senators who retired aren’t off the hook — the Senate has said it could seek reimbursement through the courts.