Talk about evasive action. The senator supposedly representing Prince Edward Island is sure looking like he’s got something to hide about his residential status.
As questions mount about Duffy’s principal home, many were amused by the upper chamber member ducking out after a speaking engagement in Halifax, through a hotel kitchen to avoid meeting the press.
This doesn’t reflect well on this particular senator, but it also speaks volumes about the Senate itself, the entitlements it carries, apparently largely unchecked. Doubtless some will take advantage when left with an open tab at the public trough.
Discrepancies have arisen about where Duffy spends most of the year as the Senate conducts an audit to ensure its members live where they claim. Since senators are supposed to represent the interests of their region, that’s a key requirement.
A recent Postmedia report said he spends most of his year at his Ottawa home – while claiming more than $33,000 in living allowances since 2010.
Media reports have lately said he was refused swift issue of a health card in P.E.I. – ahead of the usual wait period – nor is he often seen by the people he supposedly represents. Property tax rate is also an issue.
Duffy, a former journalist, is among the scads of senators appointed by the Harper government as it sought out Conservative lap dogs to echo its interests in the upper chamber. While we could expect a Conservative prime minister to pick Conservative candidates, that should not come with strings attached.
If the Senate has any value in Canada’s legislative process – and many are rightly skeptical – it can only be if it is truly a political body of sober second thought. Giving friends and allies patronage appointments while demanding something in return simply adds rot to an already suspect system.
Let’s see how much scurrying from the light this audit turns up, and whether it serves to confirm the sentiment most Canadians hold of the Senate.
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