Sen. Nancy Greene Raine charged taxpayers for stops at a ski show, for an overnight holiday with her spouse and for costs to attend a wedding anniversary of another senator.
The B.C. senator is one of 30 flagged in the auditor general’s report released Tuesday that calls for a complete overhaul on how senators do business.
“We found several instances of travel expenses claimed by the senator [Greene Raine] that were not for parliamentary business,” the report states.
Green repaid about $2,300 after issues about Senate expenses were raised in 2013.
The report notes Green reviewed her claims, realizing several should not have been made:
• two 2013 stopovers in Toronto en route from Ottawa for ski shows. Value $1,688
• attendance at a community board meeting in Kelowna. Value $353.
• an overnight stopover with husband Al Raine in 2012 in Vancouver en route to Ottawa, deemed a holiday. Value $211.
• a 2011 attendance of a 50th wedding anniversary of another senator in Vancouver. Value $203.
• cost of a ticket to an aboriginal awards event, deemed outside Senate business. Value at $345.
In an official response, Greene Raine, who was appointed to the Senate in 2009 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said she found what she deemed “administrative errors” on her own for the ski show visit and community board meeting and repaid the money before meeting with auditors.
She has disputed other findings.