patrick brazeau report

7/30/2019 Patrick Brazeau report

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SENATESTANDING COMMITTEE ONINTERNAL ECONOMY, BUDGETS AND ADMINISTRATION

CANADA

SNATCOMITE PERMANENT DE LAREGIE INTERNE, DES BUDGETS ET DE LADMINISTRATION

THURSDAY, May 9, 2013 Le JEUDI 9 mai 2013

The Standing Committee on Internal

Economy, Budgets and Administration has the

honour to present its

Le Comit permanent de la rgie interne, des

budgets et de l'administration a l'honneur de

prsenter son

TWENTY-THIRD REPORT VINGT-TROISIME RAPPORT

On November 22, 2012, your Committee

created a Subcommittee on Living Allowances

to investigate media reports with respect toSenator Patrick Brazeaus living allowances in

the National Capital Region (NCR); and to

inquire into and report on all matters relating

to living allowances in the NCR.

Le 22 novembre 2012, votre comit a cr un

Sous-comit sur lindemnit de subsistance afin

de faire enqute sur les reportages des mdiasconcernant lindemnit de subsistance dans la

rgion de la capitale nationale (RCN) rclame

par le snateur Brazeau; et de faire enqute et

rapport sur toutes les questions lies lindemnit de subsistance dans la RCN.

The Subcommittee began its examination

of Senator Brazeaus living allowance claims

with an internal review of all Senate policyinstruments relating to living and travel

expenses, together with Senator Brazeausclaims and related documents. The period of

review was established as April 2011 toSeptember 30, 2012, or from the time that

Senator Brazeau began to claim living

expenses for a rented home in the NCR to thelast month that full invoices and other records

were available to the Subcommittee.

Documents internal to the Senate Admini-stration, specifically telecommunications

invoices for Senator Brazeaus mobile phone

supplied by the Senate, assisted yourSubcommittee to notionally establish Senator

Brazeaus location during the period of

review, i.e., Ottawa versus his declared

primary residence, Maniwaki. The informationand analyses provided to the Subcommittee

raised a number of questions that warranted

discussion with Senator Brazeau directly. TheSubcommittee therefore invited the

Honourable Patrick Brazeau to attend its

meeting of December 11, 2012 at 6 p.m.

Le Sous-comit a entam son examen des

demandes dindemnit de subsistance du snateur

Brazeau par une revue interne de tous lesinstruments de politique du Snat sur lindemnit

de subsistance et les frais de dplacement dessnateurs, ainsi que des demandes de

remboursement du snateur Brazeau et desdocuments connexes. Il a t dtermin que la

priode tudie stendrait davril 2011 au

30 septembre 2012, ou partir du moment o lesnateur Brazeau a commenc rclamer une

indemnit de subsistance pour une rsidence loue

dans la RCN jusquau dernier mois pour lequel leSous-comit a obtenu des pices justificatives et

factures exhaustives. Des documents internes de

lAdministration du Snat, savoir des factures deservices de tlcommunication pour le tlphone

cellulaire fourni par le Snat au snateur Brazeau,

ont aid le Sous-comit tablir thoriquement les

emplacements du snateur Brazeau au cours de lapriode tudie, Ottawa ou Maniwaki, lieu de sa

rsidence principale dclare. Les renseignements

et analyses fournis ont soulev plusieurs questionsque le Sous-comit a cru bon dclaircir

directement avec le snateur Brazeau. Il a donc

convoqu lhonorable Patrick Brazeau sa runion


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Senator Brazeau was accompanied by his

lawyer.

du 11 dcembre 2012, 18 h. Le snateur Brazeau

sest prsent en compagnie de son avocat.

The internal review of Senator Brazeausclaims represented many employee work-

hours and resulted in issues that merited an

external third party review of the information.Your Subcommittee therefore referred the

claims and related findings to Deloitte. A

contract was entered into with Deloitte on

January 3, 2013, for an independentexamination of living and travel expense

claims and related documents for Senator

Brazeau, dating back to April 2011.

Lenqute interne des demandes deremboursement du snateur Brazeau a ncessit

de nombreuses heures de travail et a soulev des

questions qui mritaient un examen par unetierce partie extrieure. Par consquent, votre

Sous-comit a confi lexamen des demandes de

remboursement et des conclusions connexes au

cabinet Deloitte. Un contrat a t conclu le 3janvier 2013 mandatant Deloitte de procder un

examen indpendant de toutes les demandes de

remboursement et documents connexes dusnateur Brazeau depuis avril 2011.

Deloitte was asked to review the travel

claims and supporting documentation todetermine whether the travel occurred or could

have occurred; to categorize the claims asappropriate, subject to reimbursement to the

Receiver General, or subject to consideration

and determination by the Standing Committeeon Internal Economy, Budgets and

Administration; as well as to assess where the

primary residence was located for SenatorBrazeau. Deloitte conducted an examination

of Senator Brazeaus claims, for which their

report is attached as an Appendix. Deloittesexamination provides analysis of the claimsand, using a variety of sources, Deloitte was

able to confirm with a high degree of accuracy

Senator Brazeaus location during the periodof review, that is from April 1, 2011 to

September 30, 2012. This information is

fundamental to our determination of theSenators primary residence.

Deloitte a t charg dexaminer les demandes

de remboursement de frais de dplacement et lespices justificatives afin de dterminer si les

dplacements en question avaient eu lieu ouavaient pu avoir lieu; si les demandes taient

justifies, si les snateurs devaient rembourser le

receveur gnral ou si le Comit permanent de largie interne, des budgets et de ladministration

devait trancher; ainsi que dtablir o se trouve la

rsidence principale du snateur Brazeau.Deloitte a effectu un examen des demandes de

remboursement du snateur Brazeau; le rapport

est joint en annexe. Lexamen de Deloitte aproduit une analyse des demandes deremboursement et, partir de sources varies,

Deloitte a pu confirmer avec un degr lev de

prcision les emplacements de snateur Brazeauau cours de la priode tudie, soit du 1

eravril

2011 au 30 septembre 2012. Cette information

nous est essentielle pour dterminer la rsidenceprincipale du snateur Brazeau.

In its report, Deloitte noted that prior to theadoption of the Senators Travel Policy on

June 5, 2012, a definition of primary residence

did not appear in Senate policy instruments.Deloitte further noted that, The regulations

and guidelines applicable during the period ofour review do not include criteria for

determining primary residence. Given this,

Deloitte reported that they were not able toassess the status of the primary residence

declared by Senator Brazeau against existing

regulations and guidelines. However, they

Dans son rapport, Deloitte souligne quavantladoption de la Politique sur les dplacements

des snateurs, le 5 juin 2012, aucun instrument

de politique du Snat ne dfinissait la rsidenceprincipale. En outre, il prcise que les

rglements et lignes directrices applicablespendant la priode vise ne comportent aucun

critre d'tablissement d'une rsidence

principale . Aussi, Deloitte signale quil na pas pu valuer si la rsidence principale

dclare par le snateur Brazeau rpond bien aux

exigences des rglements et lignes directrices


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did conclude that all of the trips between the

Senators respective primary and secondaryresidence did take place or could have taken

place.

existants . Il a tout de mme conclu que tous les

dplacements respectifs du snateur entre lesrsidences principale et secondaire ont eu lieu

ou ont pu avoir lieu .

Your Committee acknowledges Deloittes

observation regarding the absence of criteriafor determining primary residence. It is

nonetheless our conclusion that the Primary

and Secondary Residence Declaration form in

force during the scope of these investigationsand signed by Senator Brazeau is amply clear,

as is the purpose and intent of the guidelines

(as of June 2012, policy) to reimburse livingexpenses. In summary, the Declaration

requires Senators to affirm whether theirprimary residence is within 100 kilometres

from Parliament Hill or is more than 100kilometres from Parliament Hill. The purpose

and intent of the policy instrument is to allow

Senators, who do not have their home within100 kilometres of Parliament Hill and would

not be in Ottawa if it were not for the fact that

they are Senators who must attend Senatebusiness, to not incur additional costs for

accommodations while in Ottawa to attend

Senate business. To claim living expenses inthe NCR, any residence owned or rented by a

Senator must be a secondary residence, notthe place where he or she ordinarily lives, foruse by the Senator while in the NCR for

Senate business. Your Subcommittee

considers this language to be unambiguous

and, plainly, if a Senator resides primarily inthe NCR, he or she should not be claiming

living expenses for the NCR.

Votre comit reconnat lobservation de

Deloitte concernant labsence de critre dedtermination de la rsidence principale.

Nanmoins, il estime que la Dclaration de

rsidences principale et secondaire en usage

pendant la priode sous enqute et signe par lesnateur Brazeau est amplement claire comme le

sont aussi le but et lobjet des lignes directrices

(une politique partir de juin 2012) sur leremboursement des frais de subsistance. En

rsum, la Dclaration oblige les snateurs

affirmer que leur rsidenceprincipale se trouve

dans un rayon de 100 kilomtres de la Colline duParlement ou plus de 100 kilomtres de la

Colline du Parlement . La politique a pour but et

objet dviter aux snateurs dont la rsidence setrouve plus de 100 kilomtres de la Colline du

Parlement et qui nauraient pas affaire Ottawa

sils ntaient pas snateurs, de supporter desfrais de logement additionnels Ottawa pour

participer aux travaux du Snat. Pour quun

snateur puisse demander lindemnit desubsistance dans la RCN, la rsidence quil

possde ou quil loue doit tre une rsidencesecondaire, non celle o il habite dordinaire,mais celle quil occupe lorsquil se trouve dans la

RCN dans lexercice de ses fonctions de

snateur. Le Sous-comit estime quil ny a l

aucune ambigut et quun snateur qui rsideprincipalement dans la RCN na clairement pas

droit lindemnit de subsistance dans la RCN.

Deloittes reports have been very helpful to

our determination of the appropriateness of theliving expense claims filed. Senator Brazeau

was found to have spent approximately 10

percent of the 549 days in the period of review

at his declared primary residence ofManiwaki, with an additional 13 identified

day trips to the Maniwaki area.

Les rapports de Deloitte nous ont t dune

grande utilit lorsque nous avons valu lebien-fond des demandes dindemnit de

subsistance. Il a t tabli que le snateur

Brazeau avait pass environ 10 % des 549 jours

de la priode tudie sa rsidence principaledclare de Maniwaki, en plus de 13 allers-

retours dans la journe identifis la rgion deManiwaki.

It is therefore the conclusion of your

Committee that, based on the evidence

presented in the examination report, while

Votre comit conclut donc qu la lumire des

lments de preuve prsents dans le rapport

dexamen, tout en reconnaissant les liens qui


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recognizing the ties of Senator Brazeau with

Maniwaki, his level of presence at his primaryresidence does not support such a declaration.

It is contrary to the meaning of the word

primary and to the purpose and intent of theprovision of living allowance in the NCR.

unissent le snateur Brazeau Maniwaki, sa

prsence sa rsidence principale dclarenappuie pas sa dclaration. Il est contraire au

sens du mot principal ainsi qu la raison

dtre de lindemnit de subsistance dans laRCN.

Your Committee therefore recommends: Par consquent, votre comit recommande :

1. That Senator Brazeau be ordered toreimburse the Receiver General forCanada for any living and related mileage

expenses reimbursed to him by the Senate

of Canada for the period from April 1,

2011 to date, with interest at prime rateplus one percent; and

1. Que lon ordonne au snateur Brazeau derembourser au receveur gnral du Canada lesindemnits de subsistance et les frais de

dplacement connexes qui leur ont t verses

par le Snat du Canada au cours de la priode

du 1er

avril 2011 ce jour, majors dintrtscalculs au taux prfrentiel plus 1 %;

2. That expense claims submitted forreimbursement by Senator Brazeau beoverseen by the Subcommittee on Agenda

and Procedure of the Standing Committee

on Internal Economy, Budgets andAdministration, from the date of the

adoption of this report for a period not less

than one year.

2. Que les demandes de remboursement desnateur Brazeau soient surveilles par leSous-comit du programme et de la

procdure du Comit permanent de la rgie

interne, des budgets et de ladministration,pendant au moins un an compter de la date

dadoption du prsent rapport.

Your Committee would like to thank the

members of the Subcommittee on LivingAllowances in the NCR, Senators Marshall,

Comeau and Campbell for their work on this

examination

Votre comit aimerait remercier les membres

du Sous-comit sur lindemnit de subsistancedans la RCN, les snateurs Marshall, Comeau, et

Campbell pour leur travail sur cette examen.

Respectfully submitted, Respectueusement soumis,

Le prsident,

DAVID TKACHUKChair