Say "cheese"

One thing you can say about disgraced Canadian senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin:  they may be famous for all the wrong reasons (assault charges, fiddling expenses and such), but at least Canadians have heard of them, and might even in a pinch recognize them in the lineup at Tim Hortons. Most other members of the upper chamber function completely anonymously, well-rewarded but far out of the public eye.

Now along comes a senator who seems to be looking to change that, albeit once again for all the wrong reasons. Ever since the unorthodox accounting practices of Ms Wallin and Mr Duffy came to light, the Auditor-General has been looking into the expense claims filed by sitting members of the senate. The A-G has sent out reams of letters asking senators to justify individual expense claims made in the past.  One of the esteemed members, Conservative Nancy Ruth, is now crying foul.

Ms Ruth stands accused of charging taxpayers for breakfast on a day when she in fact spent the breakfast hour in flight -- in business class and at taxpayer expense, of course. Her justification is beyond parody: "Well, those free breakfasts are pretty awful. If you want ice-cold camembert with broken crackers, you can have it".  It's been a while since I sampled the joys of a business class breakfast on an Air Canada domestic flight; back in the day you used to be served an omelet even on short flights in economy class, but of course things have changed a lot since then. Still, it perhaps says a lot about Ms Ruth's sense of entitlement that she thinks the breakfast is "free", rather than something paid for by taxpayers.

And you've got to love this out-of-left-field attempt at self-justification:  "I'm a feminist activist, so my angle on Canadian life is to look at gender-based analysis on policy and things like that". I'm not at all sure what feminism or activism have to do with the price of cheese, so I'm almost tempted to think that Ms Ruth is making a veiled threat: if the A-G goes to the wall on this one, Nancy's going to scream sexism.  

Just as remarkably, it seems that Ms Ruth's impatience with the A-G's attempts to do his damned job reflects a belief that the poor guy just doesn't understand the life and work of a senator.  She's wrong there: the revelations about Messrs Duffy, Brazeau and others have led increasing numbers of voters to the realization that the upper house, far from being a place of "sober second thought", is more of a den of inebriated self-absorption. Ms Ruth and the rest of them would be well-advised to keep their peace -- and pay back the taxpayers' money while they're at it.