The Senate rose today without a vote on bill C-518OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today condemned the Senate for shutting down before voting on Bill C-518, the Protecting Taxpayers from Convicted Politicians Act which would have stripped the taxpayer-funded pension from parliamentarians convicted of certain crimes like theft and fraud.
“It is hard to think of a bigger slap in the face to Canadians,” said CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick. “Former Senator Mac Harb’s fraud trial begins in August. The expenses of 30 other current and former Senators are being reviewed by the RCMP following the Auditor General’s Report. Faced with a choice between protecting the interests of Canadian taxpayers, and protecting their fellow Senators, the Senate chose the latter.”
Wudrick also noted that whatever the merits of proposed amendments, Senators were fully aware that because amended bills must be sent back to the House of Commons, which has already risen in advance of a fall election, the effective result would be to kill the bill and protect those currently facing charges.
“Senator Harb is currently collecting a pension of approximately $122,000. If convicted, C-518 would have stripped him of it,” said Wudrick. “The Senate’s decision circle the wagons and protect Harb and other senators by killing this bill ensures he’ll continue to collect for life regardless if he’s convicted or not.”
Wudrick also called on all major political parties to commit to introducing C-518 as a government bill in the next parliament.
“This bill was passed by a vote of 257-13 in the House of Commons. It is clear there is a broad, cross-party consensus on its objective. Senators protecting their own shouldn’t deter whichever party forms the next government from making this law.”
Federal Director Aaron Wudrick
