A modest brouhaha about an obscure parliamentary perk will not be laid at Jay Hills' doorstep.
A spokesman for the Conservative House Leader said the Prince George-Peace River MP has never claimed "a penny from taxpayers" for the east end Ottawa home he owns with his wife Leah Murray.
The comments came after an investigation by the Ottawa Citizen and the Halifax Chronicle-Herald found 21 MPs - including eight cabinet ministers - claimed an up to $10,000 a year credit that aided with the cost of buying a second home in the Ottawa area.
The allowance may be saving tax dollars. An MP who stayed in a hotel every night the House say in 2009 would rack up a bill of $12,800. An MP renting an apartment could charge up to $25,000 annually.
However, the allowance does allow MPs to accumulate equity in their property. But a Liberal MP has said he still loses money on a property he owns in Ottawa, despite the allowance.
Regardless, Hill did not take the allowance. The MP put himself near the centre of the parliamentary expense controversy after a committee he is a member of - the board of internal economy - rejected a request by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser to audit member's receipts.
