Harb was listed to vote in Ottawa
Senator’s capital address, not Pembroke-area home, used as primary residence in filings
Liberal Sen. Mac Harb was registered to vote in downtown Ottawa in the last election and not in the Pembroke riding where he claims to live.
The voters list prepared by Elections Canada before the May 2011 vote listed Harb on the rolls of those eligible to cast their ballots in Ottawa Centre, the same riding he represented as an MP for 15 years.
Harb owns units in a condominium building on Prince of Wales Drive in Ottawa Centre, and has used the address in legal correspondence related to his purchase of property in Florida.
The question of where Harb actually lives is central to an ongoing investigation by a Senate committee and auditors, who are looking into expenses he and several other senators claimed for living in the National Capital Region.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Conservative David Tkachuk, has said the location where someone pays taxes and votes are considerations in determining residency for the purpose of expense claims.
Since September 2010, Harb has collected just over $40,000 in living expenses for maintaining a secondary residence in Ottawa while claiming that his primary residence is located near Pembroke.
Harb has not said publicly where this secondary residence is located, but property records show he owns a home on Crosby Trail Road in Westmeath, along the Ottawa River, about 145 kilometres from the city.
Senators are eligible to claim up to $21,000 annually in expenses for living in Ottawa if their primary residence is located more than 100 kilometres outside of Ottawa or Gatineau.
Harb did not appear on the voters list for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, the riding where his Westmeath home is located, but it is possible he voted there by registering after the list was released. The riding is represented by Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant.
Harb did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Documents obtained by the Citizen show Harb listed his condominium units in the “Chateau Royale” on Prince of Wales Drive as his address in multiple corporate filings and real estate transactions he conducted in the Palm Beach area.
The Florida Department of State lists the address in corporate filings that identify Harb as manager/member of Teoflorida LLC, a company used to buy a condominium in Riviera Beach, Fla.
The same street address, but with a different apartment number, appeared on the deed when Teoflorida paid $275,000 for the condo unit on North Ocean Drive in April 2012.
The address was used again when another of Harb’s Florida corporations, Telmount LLC, paid $170,320 for another condo on the oceanside road last October.
The Prince of Wales address is well within the 100-kilometre buffer around the city that the Senate uses for expense claims.
Harb used the same address in 2010, when he paid $200,000 for a bungalow in Lake Worth, Fla., that he sold the following year.
There is no reference to the home in Westmeath that Harb calls his primary residence anywhere in the Florida records obtained by the Citizen.
The auditing firm Deloitte is looking at expense claims filed by Harb, along with Conservative senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau. Duffy maintains he did nothing wrong but said last week he would repay his expenses claims because the issue has become a distraction.
Media reports have also raised questions about expenses of two other Conservative senators, Pamela Wallin and Dennis Patterson.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday that there is no question about any current senators meeting the residency requirements under the constitution, which says they must reside in the provinces they represent.
Harb, 59, owns several units in the Chateau Royale apartment building as well as a home on Skipton Road in Ottawa’s west end and another home on Courtenay Avenue in the McKellar Park area.
The ethics disclosure Harb filed with the Senate also refers to two Ontario numbered companies through which, he says, he owns real estate.
The Citizen was unable to locate property in Ottawa owned by these companies but one of these companies is registered in the name of “Al Harb” with an address on Donald Street in east Ottawa.
Harb, a former Ottawa city councillor, was named to the Senate in 2003 by then-prime minister Jean Chrétien.