NDP MP Pat Martin Fails To Strip $57 Million From Senate Budget | HuffPost

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New Democrats want to defund the upper chamber.

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Ottawa Bureau Chief, HuffPost Canada;

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OTTAWA — The NDP will try once again Monday to defund the Senate by stripping the upper chamber of most of its budget.

NDP MP Pat Martin plans to move a motion to scrap $57 million dollars from the Senate’s program expenditures for this year’s budget. The upper chamber’s total budget for 2015-2016 is expected to be $88,747,958.

UPDATE:The NDP's efforts to defund the Senate was defeated Monday evening by a vote of 178 to 95.
During the lively debate NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus told the Commons his party wanted to see the whole lot of senators thrown out.
His colleague Isabelle Morin said senators were not "more predisposed to be corrupt than elected members. Not at all." But the difference was that the democratically elected House of Commons has initiated numerous mechanisms in order to ensure its accountability to Canadian taxpayers.
Morin didn't say what those were but suggested looser rules existed in the upper House. She said the NDP would "engage in a constructive dialogue with the premiers" to decide the future of the red chamber.
The NDP supports abolishing the Senate. But former Liberal leader Stephane Dion told the Commons it could not be abolished "because there is no unanimity in this country to abolish the Senate."
Paul Calandra, the prime minister's parliamentary secretary, kept asking NDP MPs what their party would do if they put the question to Canadians in a referendum and they rejected it.
NDP MP Ève Péclet acknowledged the first step the NDP would take is consult with provincial premiers and then it would hold a referendum in which it would respect the will of Canadians and Quebeckers.

The NDP — which has no senators — has tried to do this at least twice before.

New Democrats want to abolish the upper house, but any such constitutional change would require the approval of not only the House of Commons and the Senate itself, but also the unanimous consent of all the provinces.

In 2011, when Martin introduced a similar motion, he called the Senate an “expensive joke” that made a mockery of democracy.

"We might not be able to abolish the Senate by constitutional amendment, but we can cut off its blood supply," he told CBC.

In 2013, during the height of the Senate scandal involving senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau and Mac Harb, the NDP moved another motion to cease all funding to the upper chamber.

NDP MP Mathieu Ravignat said the institution is “outdated” and that non-elected senators shouldn’t be entrusted with similar duties as those of elected officials. He also criticized senators for spending a good deal of their time on partisan business — which they can expense to taxpayers. Ravignat said the Senate cannot be trusted to investigate itself.

Then-democratic reform minister Tim Uppal called the NDP motion a “gimmick” and it failed.

Since then, however, the Conservative majority in the Senate has expelled fellow Tories Duffy, Brazeau and Wallin without pay. (Harb, a Liberal, resigned before he could be suspended).

The Senate called in the auditor general to review the expenses of all senators, including some who had recently retired.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau kicked all senators out of his caucus and barred them from engaging in federal Liberal party activities, such as fundraisers and campaign events.

Duffy, Brazeau and Harb were charged by the RCMP.

The Supreme Court of Canada issued a judgment on the ability of the federal government to unilaterally bring forward reform to the upper chamber.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided that reforming of the upper chamber wasn’t worth the hassle of trying to persuade the provinces to agree.

Duffy’s criminal trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery is in progress.

The AG’s audit report — in which 30 senators with problematic expense claims are flagged — was delivered to the Speaker of the Senate and will be released publicly Tuesday.

And Pierre Poilievre, the new minister for democratic reform, suggested the Tories would abolish the upper house if the provinces pushed for the idea.

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Colin Kenny(01 of66)

Current senator (credit:The Canadian Press)

Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu(02 of66)

Current senator (credit:The Canadian Press)

Sharon Carstairs(03 of66)

Retired senator (credit:Getty Images)

Gerry St. Germain(04 of66)

Retired senator (credit:The Canadian Press)

Rose-Marie Losier-Cool(05 of66)

Retired senator (credit:Handout)

Don Oliver(06 of66)

Retired senator (credit:Don Oliver)

Rod Zimmer(07 of66)

Retired senator (credit:The Canadian Press)

Bill Rompkey(08 of66)

Retired senator (credit:Linkedin)

Marie-Paule Charette-Poulin(09 of66)

Retired senator (credit:Handout)

(10 of66)

It took less than two years for Mike Duffy to go from a darling of the Conservative party to a political outcast and accused criminal.Here's an abridged chronology of the suspended senator's part in the Senate expense scandal at the heart of the allegations.(Information courtesy of The Canadian Press.)

December 2012(11 of66)

Questions are raised about how much time Conservative Sen. Mike Duffy spends at his declared primary residence in P.E.I. (pictured), since he is claiming living expenses for staying in his longtime Ottawa-area home. (credit:CP)

Dec. 4, 2012(12 of66)

Duffy says he got an email from Nigel Wright, the prime minister's chief of staff, saying it appeared that Duffy's residence expenses complied with the rules. (credit:CP)

Feb. 5, 2013(13 of66)

Reports emerge that Duffy applied for a P.E.I. health card in December 2012 and that he does not receive a resident tax credit for his home on the island. (credit:CP)

Feb. 8, 2013(14 of66)

Senate hires external auditing firm to review residence claims of Duffy, fellow Conservative Patrick Brazeau and Liberal Mac Harb (pictured). (credit:CP)

Feb. 11, 2013(15 of66)

Duffy sends email to prime minister's chief of staff Nigel Wright apparently containing advice from his lawer. It outlines certain scenarios for repayment of the expenses and the "assurances" he would require. (credit:CP)

Feb. 13, 2013(16 of66)

The date Duffy says he meets Harper and Wright after a Conservative caucus meeting. Harper tells Duffy he must repay questioned housing expenses. "The prime minister agreed I had not broken the rules but insisted I pay the money back, money I didn't owe, because the Senate's rules are, in his words, 'inexplicable to our base,'" Duffy says in an October 2013 speech in the Senate. (credit:CP)

Feb. 21, 2013(17 of66)

Duffy agrees to follow what he later describes as a PMO-drafted plan to cover up the source of a $90,000 payback to the Senate, including a story that he borrowed the money from RBC. "On Feb. 21, after all of the threats and intimidation, I reluctantly agreed to go along with this dirty scheme," he says in the speech. (credit:Getty Images)

Feb. 22, 2013(18 of66)

Claiming confusion with the rules, Duffy pledges to pay back the expenses. "My wife and I discussed it and we decided that in order to turn the page to put all of this behind us, we are going to voluntarily pay back my living expenses related to the house we have in Ottawa,'' he said at the time. (credit:CP)

Feb. 27, 2013(19 of66)

Harper says all senators meet the requirement that they live in the area they were appointed to represent. (credit:CP)

Feb. 28, 2013(20 of66)

Senate audit fails to turn up any questionable housing allowance claims beyond those of Brazeau (pictured), Harb and Duffy. (credit:CP)

Mar. 25, 2013(21 of66)

Wright sends a bank draft for $90,172.24 to the office of Duffy's lawyer. (credit:CP)

Mar. 26, 2013(22 of66)

$90,172.24 is transferred to Duffy's RBC bank account, and his cheque for $90,172.24 is delivered to the Senate. The cheque cleared Duffy's bank on Mar. 28. (credit:CP)

April 19, 2013(23 of66)

Duffy confirms he has repaid more than $90,000 in Senate housing expenses. "I have always said that I am a man of my word. In keeping with the commitment I made to Canadians, I can confirm that I repaid these expenses in March 2013.'' (credit:CP)

May 8, 2013(24 of66)

A meeting between PMO and Conservative senators and staff occurs to discuss the altering of a committee report on Duffy's residency and expenses. Negative language is removed. (credit:CP)

May 9, 2013(25 of66)

Senate releases Deloitte audits of Duffy, Harb and Brazeau, as well as the Senate committee reports. Harb and Brazeau are ordered to repay $51,000 and $48,000 respectively. The report on Duffy is shorter and does not include the same language suggesting he should have known the difference between primary and secondary residences. Government Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton (pictured) says the Senate now considers the Duffy matter closed. (credit:CP)

May 10, 2013(26 of66)

Conservative House leader Peter Van Loan says of Duffy: "He showed the kind of leadership that we would like to see from Liberal Sen. Mac Harb, who instead is taking up arms against the Senate, saying that he should not have to pay back inappropriate funds.'' (credit:CP)

May 12, 2013(27 of66)

RCMP says it will examine Senate expense claims. (credit:Waferboard/FLICKR)

May 14, 2013(28 of66)

Brazeau says he also broke no rules and is exploring all options to overturn an order to pay the money back. (credit:CP)

May 15, 2013(29 of66)

The Prime Minister's Office confirms that Wright personally footed the bill for Duffy's housing expenses because Duffy couldn't make a timely payment. (credit:CP)

May 16, 2013(30 of66)

The Canadian Press reports that Duffy submitted travel expense claims to the Senate on the same days that he was campaigning for Conservative candidates in 2011 and claiming expenses from them. He resigns from the Conservative caucus later that day. (credit:CP)

May 17, 2013(31 of66)

Sen. Pamela Wallin also announces she's leaving the Conservative caucus. Her travel expenses, which totalled more than $321,000 since September 2010, have been the subject of an external audit since December. (credit:CP)

May 19, 2013(32 of66)

Wright announces his resignation as Harper's chief of staff, a move Harper says he accepts with "great regret." Wright is replaced in the chief of staff's role by Ray Novak (pictured), who has been by Harper's side since 2001. In October, Harper says Wright was "dismissed." (credit:CP)

May 28, 2013(33 of66)

Senate internal economy committee holds a public meeting to review Duffy's expenses associated with travel. Senate finance officials say they've detected a pattern that concerns them. The committee votes to send the matter to the RCMP. (credit:CP)

June 3, 2013(34 of66)

Sen. Marjory LeBreton, the Conservative leader in the Senate, says she intends to ask the auditor general to look into all the expenses of the upper chamber. (credit:CP)

June 6, 2013(35 of66)

Conservative and Liberal senators agree to invite the auditor general to scrutinize the way they spend taxpayers' money. The same day, Harper tells the Commons that Wright paid the $90,000 with his own money: "Mr. Wright wrote a cheque on his own personal account and gave it to Mr. Duffy so he could repay his expenses. He told me about it on May 15. He obviously regrets that action. He has said it was an error in judgment and he will face the consequences as a consequence." (credit:CP)

June 13, 2013(36 of66)

The RCMP confirms it has launched a formal investigation into Wright's involvement in the expense scandal. Brazeau and Harb are given 30 days to reimburse taxpayers for their disallowed living expenses — bills that together total more than $280,000. (credit:CP)

July 4, 2013(37 of66)

Media reports say RCMP investigators allege that the Conservative party had planned to repay Duffy's improperly claimed living expenses, but balked when the bill turned out nearly three times higher than expected. (credit:CP)

July 5, 2013(38 of66)

Harper is accused of misleading Canadians after repeatedly insisting Wright acted on his own when he gave Duffy $90,000 to reimburse his invalid expense claims. The RCMP says in a court document that Wright told three other senior people in the PMO about the transaction. (credit:CP)

July 17, 2013(39 of66)

Harper's office says it has not been asked by the RCMP for an email at the heart of its criminal investigation into the Senate expenses scandal. The PMO denies withholding the email, which apparently summarizes the deal struck between Duffy and Wright to pay off invalid expense claims. (credit:CP)

Aug. 26, 2013(40 of66)

Harb resigns from the upper chamber. Harb, who earlier left the Liberal party to sit as an Independent, drops a lawsuit and pledges to repay his questioned living and expense claims. (credit:CP)

Oct. 8, 2013(41 of66)

RCMP alleges Duffy awarded $65,000 in Senate contracts to Gerald Donahue, a friend and former TV technician, who did little actual work for the money. (credit:CP)

Oct. 17, 2013(42 of66)

Claude Carignan, the government's new leader in the Senate, introduces motions to suspend Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau from the Senate. The motions call for the three to be stripped of their pay, benefits and Senate resources. (credit:CP)

Oct. 21, 2013(43 of66)

Duffy's lawyer, Donald Bayne, alleges Harper's staff and key Conservative senators were behind a scheme to have Duffy take the fall for wrongdoing that they agreed he had not committed. (credit:CP)

Oct. 22, 2013(44 of66)

In his explosive speech in the Senate chamber, Duffy accuses Harper's office of orchestrating a ''monstrous fraud'' aimed at snuffing out controversy over his expenses. Duffy accuses the prime minister of being more interested in appeasing his Conservative base than the truth. (credit:CP)

Oct. 28, 2013(45 of66)

Duffy delivers another speech, this time saying the Conservative party made arrangements to cover his $13,560 legal bill. "The PMO — listen to this — had the Conservative party's lawyer, Arthur Hamilton, pay my legal fees," Duffy says. He also casts doubt on whether Wright actually paid the $90,000: "I have never seen a cheque from Nigel Wright." (credit:CP)

Nov. 5, 2013(46 of66)

A Nov. 1 letter from the RCMP superintendent in charge of the investigation reveals that investigators want copies of emails and documents mentioned by Duffy, including emails from the PMO related to a "script" for Duffy to follow in publicly explaining how he financed repaying the expenses. The documents "may potentially be evidence of criminal wrongdoing by others," the letter reads. (credit:CP)

Nov. 5, 2013(47 of66)

Senators finally vote to suspend Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin without pay — but with health, dental and life insurance benefits intact — for the remainder of the parliamentary session. (credit:CP)

Jan. 29, 2014(48 of66)

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau expels the 32 Liberal senators from his caucus in what he calls an effort to reduce partisanship in the upper chamber. He says if he becomes prime minister he would appoint only independent senators, chosen through an open public process. (credit:CP)

April 15, 2014:(49 of66)

RCMP inform Nigel Wright he will not face criminal charges. (credit:CP)

July 17, 2014(50 of66)

Duffy is charged with 31 counts, including fraud, breach of trust and bribery. (credit:CP)

Sept. 23, 2014:(51 of66)

A trial date is set for April 7, 2015, with 41 days set aside in April, May and June. (credit:CP)

'I Can't Figure Out Why The RCMP Would Have Anything To Do With This'(52 of66)

Sen. Mike Duffy sent an email to Nigel Wright following a news story referencing a Senate matter.(Continued)

'I am Extremely Frustrated'(53 of66)

'I Am No Longer 100% Sure We Can Deliver'(54 of66)

On March 1, Duffy's lawyer Janice Payne emailed former PMO legal adviser Ben Perrin for an update.

'I Am Personally Covering Duffy's $90K...'(55 of66)

In an March 8 email, Wright told Chris Woodcock the party would not be paying the Duffy cheque.

'But PM's Reputation – And That Of Sen Caucus – Going Down In Flames''(56 of66)

On May 9, Wright responded to an email forwarded by Ray Novak from Sen. Linda Frum over concerns about protecting Tory senators.

'Chinese Water Torture'(57 of66)

On page 26 of the documents, the RCMP note "On February 15, there were e-mail discussions within the PMO about the SenateRules committee and a proposed definition of residency, Nigel Wright e-mailed Benjamin Perrin."

'He Just Handed The Libs The Reason To Go To The Police'(58 of66)

On page 44 of the documents, the RCMP detail an email exchange between Tory Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen and PMO staffers Chris Woodcock and Patrick Rogers.

'We Are Good To Go From The PM'(59 of66)

Page 32 of the documents details a Feb. 22 email from Nigel Wright to staffers in the PMO, including lawyer Benjamin Perrin.

'The PM Knows, In Broad Terms Only...'(60 of66)

Page 45 of the documents details an email on May 14 from PMO staffer Andrew MacDougall to Nigel Wright and others. MacDougall says he has received inquiries from a journalist about Nigel Wright co-signing a loan for Senator Duffy to repay the money. Carl Vallee, PMO Press Secretary, writes:"Would the PM know the actual answer to the question? Just in case he asks us."

1) He probably took a BIG pay cut to work in the PMO(61 of66)

It is believed that Wright was earning more than $2 million in salary and bonuses at Onex before serving as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff. Wright made around $300,000 working on Parliament Hill. (credit:(CP))

2) He's unmarried(62 of66)

Along with John Baird, Jason Kenney, and James Moore, Wright was one of four “single, white males” profiled in Maclean’s magazine in 2011 as holding immense power in Harper’s inner circle. Moore has since tied the knot, and Baird has resigned. (credit:(CP))

3) He's a big runner(63 of66)

Wright would apparently run a half-marathon each morning before starting a 14-hour work day at Onex.He kept that pace after he began working in Ottawa.He is said to be fond of telling a story of once being surrounded by several snarling dogs during an early morning run - a perfect metaphor for politics. (credit:(CP/The Globe and Mail))

4) Harper wasn't the first PM he worked for(64 of66)

Wright was a speechwriter and policy adviser to former prime minister Brian Mulroney. He was also policy co-ordinator for Kim Campbell's leadership campaign. (credit:(CP))

5) He almost became a priest(65 of66)

Wright considered joining the Anglican priesthood as a young man. He is currently a subdeacon at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church in Toronto. (credit:(CP/The Globe and Mail))

6) He was the subject of a conflict of interest probe(66 of66)

The federal ethics watchdog cleared Wright of conflict of interest allegations in January, 2013. Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson investigated Wright after it was reported he was lobbied on three occasions by Barrick Gold Corp, despite deep personal connections to the company’s founding family. Dawson found there was no violation of the Conflict of Interest Act. (credit:(CP))

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