Some NDP expense claims could be denied
OTTAWA— New Democrat MPs who were planning to buy the hot dogs for Canada Day barbecues with constituents might not be reimbursed as the House of Commons begins rejecting expense claims from those who have been asked to refund $2.7 million used for satellite offices.
Christine Maydossian, a spokeswoman for government whip John Duncan, confirmed that beginning Wednesday, individual MPs will see their claims rejected by the House of Commons until the money has been paid back.
NDP House leader Peter Julian, meanwhile, denied this is happening and accused the Conservatives of playing dirty political games.
“As far as we know, nothing has changed,” Julian said Tuesday.
The secretive board of internal economy revealed in February that 68 current and former NDP MPs are being held personally responsible for repaying a total of nearly $2.75 million in salary and costs incurred by staffers working in so-called satellite offices set up in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City after the 2011 election.
That includes eight Toronto-area NDP MPs — including former NDP MP Olivia Chow — who pooled their parliamentary office budgets to cover the salaries of staffers working at a satellite office based out of the same building on Yonge St. as the Toronto Star.
The New Democrats maintain that they did nothing wrong by pooling their parliamentary office budgets to hire staffers to work in satellite offices to handle things such as mail-outs and media relations at a regional level.
Referring to the board of internal economy as a “kangaroo court,” they are challenging its finding in Federal Court.
“It’s not going to stand up in court. I think the Conservatives are well aware of that, but they would rather try to play this kind of dirty game of politics rather than let the courts make the decision,” Julian said.
Their Conservative and Liberal rivals, who together outnumber the NDP on the multi-party board, argue the rules were broken, and it has often been used against the NDP in question period, especially when they ask about the Senate expenses scandal.
“You don’t get to complain about the process just because you lose and just because you find yourself on the wrong side of a staff ruling,” said Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan, referring to the fact that it was the House administration that had first raised questions about the unusual employment arrangement.
“The rules are the rules. They’re very clear. They bent rules. In fact, they broke the rules, and now there are consequences,” Vaughan said Tuesday.
“For over a year, the NDP has done everything they can to deny, delay and obstruct an investigation into their use of parliamentary resources for partisan satellite offices,” Duncan said Tuesday in a statement emailed by Maydossian.
That total amount the board of internal economy determined was owed in February was $2,749,362, but that has since been reduced somewhat, although the Star could not confirm by how much.
That is because, according to the minutes of a May 12 board meeting, four unidentified MPs “were able to sufficiently substantiate that the employees (in satellite offices) were working to support (MPs) in the performance of their parliamentary functions in Ottawa” and the administration concluded they no longer owed any money.
Sources familiar with the processing of hospitality and travel claims, including per diems, said that beginning Wednesday, MPs said to owe money submits expenses for reimbursement, the amount will be used to bring down their balance instead of being paid directly to them.
If an MP is defeated in the Oct. 19 federal election while still owing a balance, the money will be docked from their severance payment and pension payouts, the source said.