Auditor general calls for comprehensive review of MLA expense rules

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The need to overhaul the MLA expense system in Nova Scotia has come to the forefront after the auditor general reported this week that MLAs from all political parties have run up excessive or inappropriate expenses over the past three years.

Auditor General Jacques Lapointe, after studying expense claims spanning a period from July 2006 to last June, released a report on Wednesday, Feb. 3 about MLA purchases that taxpayers had covered. Among other things, these claims included $790 for a model of the ship Hector, $738 for an espresso coffee machine, $2,499 for a 40-inch LCD television, $6,234 for website design and $7,995 to have a generator installed in the home of an MLA.

Also, sometimes there had been duplicate filing of expense claims.

Lapointe has called for a comprehensive review of MLA expenses, something the House Speaker said is already underway.

While the claims were included in the report, the names of MLAs were not. But as news of the expenses became public, MLAs began stepping forward or issued news releases identifying themselves as the purchaser of items, with some saying they had paid back the expense or would be paying it back, some explaining the purpose of the purchase and some saying they did follow the rules and guidelines that were in place.

Yarmouth MLA Richard Hurlburt confirmed that his constituency office did purchase one of the power generators highlighted in the report as “the supply and installation of a generator at a member’s home residence.”

Hurlburt said the generator was purchased two years ago and it has been registered with Ground Search and Rescue and the Emergency Management Office. “The generator was purchased in order to assist local organizations in the event of a power failure and ground search and rescue operations,” said Hurlburt. “The generator is currently at my home for the purpose of keeping it charged. It is not, and has never been used, for personal purposes.”

Hurlburt said he followed the rules and guidelines that were in place at the time the generator was purchased and he reimbursed the hook-up fee expense to the Speaker’s office last summer.

Premier Darrell Dexter was on vacation, but his director of communications said Dexter had contacted him via email to say he will reimburse taxpayers for his purchase of a $2,150 digital camera and $5,501 for two laptop computers.

Clare Liberal MLA Wayne Gaudet said he is ready to reimburse the Speaker’s Office on an expense claim for parking lot sanding at his constituency office. The auditor general has indicated he feels that expense is inappropriate.

Gaudet said if he’s done something wrong in his instance, he wants to correct it at once. “If I owe money to the Speaker’s Office, I will pay it back,”

said Gaudet. “I will follow whatever recommendations the Speaker makes in my particular situation.”

Liberal MLA Keith Colwell said he had repaid $252 to the Speaker’s office for an item that was mentioned in the report. “My office purchased framed 3-D art from my brother. We donated these items to various community organizations looking for items for silent auctions and raffles,” said Colwell. “As soon as I was told it was inappropriate, I repaid the money to the Speaker’s office.”

Glace Bay Liberal MLA Dave Wilson said he has repaid $400 to the Speaker's Office for an error in his expenses last year. "The receipt for $400 of patio furniture was among several receipts submitted and processed at once," said Wilson. "As soon as the auditor general and his staff brought this to my attention, I immediately told him it was a mistake on my part and should never have been claimed or approved." "I voluntarily reimbursed the Speaker's Office last year."

NDP MLA Leonard Preyra said a claim of $373 for an accompanying passenger on a member’s flight to Ottawa had been made in error due because of confusion over the receipt issued by the airline. He said he made the claim believing the amount was for one ticket when it was actually for two. The money was repaid.

NDP MLA Howard Epstein identified himself as the person who claimed $2,969 in book purchases. A news release from his office said the auditor general deemed this be a cost outside the norm, although allowable within the existing guidelines.

It is those existing guidelines that need to be examined said Lapointe. He said a lot of the rules around expenses simply aren’t clear. He said there was nothing found in his examination that warranted sending the information to the RCMP. “The rules were so ambiguous it’s hard to tell what’s right and wrong,” he said during a news conference. “I cannot often tell whether a mistake was made, a conscious decision was made, whether the rules were applied well or badly.”

This was the first auditor general review of expenses in 15 years. Lapointe said over the years the expense system had revolved with several different funds in place for different purposes.