Senator Marie-P. Charette-Poulin (resigned)

Province: Ontario

Appointment date: 21 September 1995

Resignation date: 17 April 2015

Observations—general

1. On the basis of information available, we have been unable to determine whether all the Senator’s expenses were incurred for parliamentary business, and with due regard for the use of public funds. We found expenses of $131,434 for which we had conflicting or insufficient information to determine that they had been incurred for parliamentary business.

2. After our initial review of the Senator’s expenses, we requested information on 31 March 2014 about the expenses she incurred, and we met with her six times between 10 April and 23 June 2014 to ask questions and receive her responses.

3. On 24 June 2014, we told the Senator that we would be requesting access to all emails for the audit period and seeking third-party confirmation of certain transactions or events. On 15 July 2014, we met with the Senator to discuss our 24 June 2014 letter. On 17 July 2014, we asked the Senator to provide the information that we had requested by 31 July 2014. On 31 July 2014, the Senator asked for clarifications, and stated that she was still considering our information request. On 10 September 2014, we gave the Senator clarifications, and we again asked for the information. On 26 September and 17 October 2014, we again requested access to emails.

4. On 13 November 2014, we met with the Senator’s lawyer to discuss our request for information and access to emails. On 17 November 2014, we wrote to the Senator’s lawyer, confirming that we had discussed our need for information, and discussed timelines for receiving that information. On 12 December 2014, we met with the Senator’s lawyer to provide information on our preliminary observations. We again asked for access to all emails. We asked for further information on 26 January 2015, and received some information on 23 February and 30 March 2015. We were not given access to all the requested information and emails.

Observations—travel

We found several instances where there was conflicting or insufficient information that prevented us from determining that travel expenses claimed by the Senator had been incurred for parliamentary business.

5. The Senator worked as counsel for a law firm. The Senator incurred travel expenses, to a maximum amount of $31,161, for trips where we were unable to determine whether they were for parliamentary business, personal activities, or activities for the law firm.

6. The Senator incurred travel expenses, to a maximum amount of $9,717, for which we were unable to determine whether they were for parliamentary business or for personal activities, including visiting family members and supporting her spouse’s business activities.

Observations—goods and services

We found that there was conflicting or insufficient information that prevented us from determining whether contracting expenses were for parliamentary business.

7. In reviewing contract expenses the Senator incurred, we received documentation from the Senate, some verbal and written information from the Senator, and other documentation from the Senator on 23 February 2015. We found that there were inconsistencies between the documentation received from the Senate, the verbal and written information provided by the Senator, the documents that we received on 23 February 2015, and information received from one contractor. For a second contractor, we found that 13 of the 14 invoices submitted had discrepancies, in the work performed and the hours billed. Based on the information available, the amount for which we were unable to determine whether the expenses were for parliamentary business was $82,746.

Observations—other

We found other expenses that we were unable to determine were for parliamentary business or that were not in accordance with the Senate’s rules, policies, and guidelines.

8. The Senator incurred hospitality expenses, to a maximum amount of $5,755, where we were unable to determine whether they were for parliamentary business, personal activities, or activities for the law firm.

9. We found several other expenses where we were unable to determine whether they were for parliamentary business or personal activities. These included $1,443 for taxis and $612 for couriers and other office expenses.

The former Senator did not provide comments for publication

Information, representations, and submissions provided by the former Senator were considered throughout this audit and are reflected in our findings and conclusions. The former Senator did not confirm the facts in this report or provide a response in time to meet our publication deadline.