Check on us

If it were up to Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor MP Scott Simms, federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser could look at whatever MP expenses she desired to.

"My books are open - you can go there right now and have a look at them," he said, speaking with The Beacon last Thursday. "Why would I deny her the same measure."

The matter has been a hot topic in Ottawa ever since news came of the Board of Internal Economy decision to not allow Ms. Fraser to conduct a performance audit on the expense accounts of MPs.

Financial audits of MP expenses take place, but do not show where the money goes. The audit Ms. Fraser proposed is called a performance audit.

Mr. Simms said it may relate to miscellaneous expenses, which do not get reported in detail, though such matters depend on the practices of individual MPs.

In a news release issued by the board on May 13, it said such an audit "would go beyond the scope of the auditor general's mandate."

The board is a nine-member group, including representatives from all parities representatives of all federal parties - four Conservatives, three Liberals, and one member each from the New Democratic Party and the Bloc QuÉbÉcois.

Mr. Simms said working with the Auditor General is unavoidable, and that she should have every right to look at the account books of MPs.

The concern over the matter may be felt even more in Newfoundland and Labrador, where residents can freshly recall the constituency allowance spending scandal, which saw four MHAs representing all three provincial parties receive jail time for fraud-related charges.

The issue with the federal Auditor General comes at the same time as trouble brews in Nova Scotia. There, its Auditor General has determined four former and one current Members of the Legislative Assembly may have broken the law. Auditor General Jacques Lapointe has referred the matter to the RCMP.

"How can you get around the fact it's the public's money? Transparency is the ultimate judge here ... let people see what it is you spend on."

He added a performance audit may help MPs to better spend their funds.

"What bothers me is that sometimes as politicians, we forget what it was like to be a taxpayer not elected by the people. Maybe the best parent to a teenager is the one who never forgot what it was like to be a teenager ... When you say things like, "The Auditor General has no business in this, don't worry, it's strict enough." So what? Prove it."

Mr. Simms is equally befuddled as to why politicians would be surprised news of the Auditor General being denied the opportunity to conduct a performance audit would not sit well with the public.

"Eighty-eight per cent of the public say they want to look at our expenses - well, no kidding. I'd like to see it too."

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