OTTAWA - Former cabinet minister Wayne Easter is the latest Liberal to break House of Commons rules governing MP expenses.
Easter was asked to repay $8,050.26 in public funds after incorrectly claiming expenses on a secondary residence between August 2007 and July 2010.
Easter declared that he owned the property, when in fact he didn't, according to a letter sent to Easter last October by the Board of Internal Economy, an all-party committee of members of Parliament that vets MP expenses.
Over a four-year period, Easter claimed $29,837.16 in reimbursements, when he was only eligible for $21,796.90.
Easter, the incumbent in the P.E.I. riding of Malpeque, said he has since repaid the amount owed.
"I thought I was billing according to proper procedures, and obviously I wasn't," he told Global National in Summerside, P.E.I. "It was an honest mistake and I met with the Board of Internal Economy, and it was paid."
Easter's tab is relatively small compared with the ineligible expenses claimed by his Liberal colleagues, John Cannis and Judy Sgro.
Cannis was asked by the board to repay $106,842.20 in taxpayer funds, while Sgro was hit with a bill of $60,332.38, according to letters sent to them last June by the board.
The board documents were obtained by Global National.
MPs can claim up to $10,530 annually in reimbursements on secondary residences they own. If they rent from a third party, they can claim up to $25,468 per year.
The letter to Cannis states that since April 2003, he had been claiming rental reimbursements on a property owned by his spouse. At the same time, former Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi was paying rent on the same property to Cannis' spouse. MPs can't claim secondary-residence reimbursements on properties they rent to someone else, or when a reimbursement is claimed by another MP on the same property by another MP.
Telegdi, who was defeated in the 2008 election, is running to reclaim the Ontario riding of Kitchener-Waterloo.
Cannis, the incumbent in the Toronto riding of Scarborough Centre, refused to discuss the details of the case. But he told Global National that it's an "issue that is totally irrelevant to my constituents, number one, (and) totally irrelevant to what's going on in the campaign."
He said he has handled the situation in line with the bylaws and rules governing MP expenses.
Sgro also incorrectly claimed rental expenses on a property she owned, according to a letter sent to her by the board. The expenses cover the period from April 2003 to August 2006. Sgro had bought a downtown Ottawa condo, sold it to her three children, and then claimed the rent she was paying to her family.
Sgro, the incumbent in the Toronto riding of York West, couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
The details of MP expenses are often murky. The all-party board meets in camera and releases few details about its reviews.
The board initially refused a request by Auditor General Sheila Fraser to probe MP expenses. Fraser was eventually granted access to the books so her office could conduct a "performance" audit of MP spending.
