I was watching a political program this weekend and the reporters were saying they were surprised that the judgment handed down by Justice Vaillancourt cleared Mike Duffy of all 31 charges. Did this surprise me?
The answer is no, I'm sad to say, as I was saying that from the get go.
Justice Vaillancourt went on to deliver a scathing attack on the Prime Minister's Office and the way this unaccountable office has ran.
What this judgment tells me is that we have been going along for years with no rules of accountability. About 10 years ago, we learnt through the media that one of the senators was collecting his cheques while he was living out of the country and sitting on the beach for a couple years.
One would have thought that the embarrassment of that incident would hit home in the Senate and they would have tightened up the rules then.
The Senate now promised to tighten up the rules for expense claims.
Unfortunately I am one who believes that the new rules should be recommended by independent people. If the senators are allowed to do it themselves we the taxpayer will see more "I'm entitled to my entitlements."
As a taxpayer, I'm appalled by the seemingly lack of accountability by these very people appointed to senior positions by the governing party. We, the taxpayers, pay their wages and this is the way they treat us! There needs to be a code of conduct for the Prime Minister's Office. One which all staffers sign and adhere too. Do these staffers need to be from the ruling party? I think not.
I am quite peeved that this miscarriage of justice that has occurred. The costs of this case will be pricey. We will likely have to pay him back pay from the time of his paycheques stopped to the present. We will likely have to pay for his legal fees which I'm sure because of the length of the trail will be over a million if not more.
We may even have to pay his per diem for days when the Senate sat.
During any election we continually hear people stating that they will be good guardians of our tax dollars.
After being elected we can throw that out with the bath water.
Stan New
Prince George
