Now
that summer is over and "normal" is what we're supposed to be getting
back to, after the "dog days" that is, it's time to resume our daily
lives and adjust back to the weird and whacky world that we live in. That world
includes endless Middle East problems, world economic uncertainty, (also
ongoing) and, of course, the standard political scandals.
I am fairly certain that ever since
politicians first came upon the scene, so many years ago, scandals would have
followed soon after. One of the most recent Canadian political scandals involves
one of Saskatchewan's own, former journalist and Canadian Senator, Pamela
Wallin.
If you are like me and you have been
ignoring the news for the past couple of months in an effort to not put a
damper on an easy, breezy summer, Senator Wallin has been embroiled in the
Senate Expense Scandal that included three other Canadian Senators, most
notably, another former journalist, Mike Duffy, among them. Senators Wallin and
Duffy have been audited for ineligible expense claims and both have been
ordered to pay back large sums of money for the ineligible claims.
In Pamela Wallin’s case, the auditors flagged $121,348 in inappropriate expenses and
the Senate committee later determined Wallin owed another $17,621, bringing her
total tab to $138,969. She has until the 16th of September to pay it
back before the Senate garnishes her wages, should she miss the deadline.
Wallin has already repaid a portion of the funds owed and has promised to
reimburse any disallowed expenses out of her own pocket, with interest.
How big of you,
Pam! To her credit though, Senator Wallin, she is still a Senator by the way,
has taken responsibility for the wrongful claims and hasn’t shifted the blame
to an underling or an accountant or some such person and says that she signed
the claims and ultimately the buck, (or many bucks, as it were), stops at her.
Wallin says that she made some "mistakes" with her expense claims and
will make full restitution on her "mistakes". "Mistakes?"
That's $139,000.00 worth of mistakes!
Her defense was a
good offense as she lashed out that the Deliotte audit was “fundamentally
flawed and unfair” as the auditors were using old criteria to determine if any
of her claims, old or new, were eligible and all of the claims in question were
travel expenses only. Also, Wallin has stated that her expenses were approved
by the Senate Finance Committee so some responsibility had to be given to the
people approving the expenses in the first place. Point taken.
I’m not sure how
the Senate communicates their processes to each and every Senator but Wallin
seems to have missed a few memos as her travel claims have been sketchy from
the moment she was first appointed in December of 2008. Either she honestly
didn’t know she was submitting false claims or she was hoping that a
“fundamentally flawed and unfair” audit, or otherwise, would have missed them
altogether.
Pamela Wallin is
an Officer of the Order of Canada, having received Canada's highest civilian
honour in 2007, and receiving the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1999.She has
fourteen Honorary Doctorates and among many other honors, she has been named to
the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame, she received a national Visionary Award
in Canada, and has been recognized four times by Queen Elizabeth II for her
public service and achievements.
It's not easy, in
this jaded world, to believe any politician isn't just covering their derrière and
it certainly doesn't look great for Senator Wallin but I am going to reserve
final judgement until after an RCMP investigation in to the whole sordid affair
is completed.
"A British
politician is usually caught with his hand up a woman's skirt while a Canadian
politician is usually caught with his hand in the till." - Sun Media columnist Valerie Gibson.
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