If Harper Fixed His Moat With Tax Dollars, Would We Ever Find Out?
James Travers asks some hard questions about transparencey in Canada when it comes to expenditures by our elected officials:
"Stifle that rising laugh about British politicians stretching expense accounts to cover the crippling cost of pet food, toilet repairs and scrubbing the moat. Even if the laugh lines are Monty Python hilarious, we in the colonies have no reason to roll on the floor. [...]
Canadian taxpayers would never know if federal politicians were plunging their snouts so ear-deep into the public trough. Repeated appeals from the auditor general have yet to expose that level of expense detail to the astringent effects of fresh air and sunlight.
Worse still, our right to know is stuck in reverse. Last week MPs agreed – in secret, of course – to keep private any cash or benefits flowing their way from the party or riding associations.
Along with opening a useful funding loophole, that adds to the already long list of oppressive levers under the Prime Minister's command and control."
"Stifle that rising laugh about British politicians stretching expense accounts to cover the crippling cost of pet food, toilet repairs and scrubbing the moat. Even if the laugh lines are Monty Python hilarious, we in the colonies have no reason to roll on the floor. [...]
Canadian taxpayers would never know if federal politicians were plunging their snouts so ear-deep into the public trough. Repeated appeals from the auditor general have yet to expose that level of expense detail to the astringent effects of fresh air and sunlight.
Worse still, our right to know is stuck in reverse. Last week MPs agreed – in secret, of course – to keep private any cash or benefits flowing their way from the party or riding associations.
Along with opening a useful funding loophole, that adds to the already long list of oppressive levers under the Prime Minister's command and control."
