To win back trust, MPs must embrace full disclosure

Re: When MPs And Principles Collide, Chris Selley, June 21.

I couldn’t agree more with Chris Selley’s observations as they relate to the NdP proposal for independent oversight of MPs expenses and spending. Putting aside the obvious question that if MPs cannot manage their own spending, how can any of them lay claim to being competent stewards of the nation’s treasury, the real issue is not one of oversight, but one of personal principle and full disclosure.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss the rehabilitation of MP and Senate financial accountability with u.K. Conservative MP Tom Harris. He was an MP in 2009 when the spending scandal exploded in Britain, a time he described “as the worst period of my life.” The casualties were high, and the damage inflicted to individual reputations and that of Parliament as a whole was devastating. In an effort to restore some public faith in government accountability, the u.K. opted to create an independent body to oversee MP spending.

Mr. Harris, surprisingly, described this solution as an “absolute disaster” in terms of effectiveness and absurdly expensive to taxpayers. He strenuously urged Canada to never go down that road. MPs are elected and should be the ones held totally accountable for government spending, including their own.

The solution in one word: disclosure. Full, open and easily accessible to the public. His belief is that the longer politicians resist total disclosure, the more extensive the dam- age to their reputations and the longer the “rehabilitation” process of the institution when it inevitably occurs. And it will. For the sake of all Canadians, I hope it will happen sooner rather than later. Michelle Simson ( former Liberal MP for Scarborough Southwest), Hastings, Ont.