On Friday it was reported that Senator Pamela Wallin had made a payment of $100,600.98 covering the remaining amount of expenses she inappropriately claimed as a senator, as well as an additional $13,938.19 in
interest charges. To say the she did so begrudgingly is an understatement as she refuses to accept responsibility for using the Canadian taxpayer as her own personal piggy bank. “If mistakes were made, I am responsible for
those, but there was never a deliberate attempt to thwart the travel policy that
was in place at the time the claims were submitted,” Wallin said in a written statement. Coming from a woman who photocopied an airline ticket so she could claim the expense from both the senate and the University of Guelph, that's some serious chutzpah.
Still, I have to say that I give Pamela Wallin credit, she misspent government money, and even though she's kind of being bullheaded about just owning up to the fact she was wrong, she did - eventually - pay it back. So did Mike Duffy, even if he had to write a IOU to PMO staffers in order to the job done. Spending scandals are nothing new to government, but what struck me about the senate expense scandal is that at least were getting the money back. Can the same be said for most other scandals of this sort?
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