Spending in violation of rules not referred to RCMP
Three Liberal MPs who filed incorrect spending claims worth thousands of dollars have not been investigated by police, even after an Ontario Superior Court Justice sentenced a former Senator to six months in prison for misuse of taxpayer funding. “No one is above the law,” said Justice Robert Smith as he handed out the sentence to ex-Liberal Senator Raymond Lavigne. NDP Leader Jack Layton said Thursday that police should be called in whenever there is evidence of wrongfully claimed spending by MPs and senators. The Chronicle Herald and Ottawa Citizen revealed last year that Liberal MPs Judy Sgro and John Cannis claimed tens of thousand of dollars in rental expenses that violated spending rules. And during the most recent election campaign, Global TV discovered that Liberal MP Wayne Easter had also received money after filing incorrect expense claims. All three have paid back the thousands of dollars they wrongfully obtained.