OTTAWA - New Democrat MPs who are on the hook for $2.7 million for allegedly using parliamentary resources for partisan purposes now face the prospect of having their expense claims denied by the House of Commons.
In a statement, Conservative whip John Duncan said House of Commons officials will begin rejecting claims from NDP MPs who are accused of using public money to pay for so-called satellite offices across the country.
Those rejections are supposed to start Thursday, unless the 68 current and former MPs repay the $2.7 million the multi-party board of internal economy says they owe the public purse.
"For over a year, the NDP has done everything they can to deny, delay, and obstruct an investigation into their use of parliamentary resources for partisan satellite offices," Duncan said in the statement.
"Now...individual members will be having their claims for expenses denied by the House of Commons."
A response from the NDP was not immediately available.
The MPs are accused of using public money from their office budgets to pool funds in order to create the outreach offices, which the party set up after the 2011 election when an unprecedented number of NDP MPs were elected across the country — particularly in Quebec.
The board has previously said that Commons officials believed all the workers in the outreach offices would work in Ottawa, but later found out that they were in offices in Quebec. The board decided the offices were a violation of Commons spending rules because the employees hired in each office were neither working in a constituency office, nor a parliamentary office.
The NDP was ordered to repay about $2.75 million or face sanctions, which would include having their hospitality, per diem and travel expenses rejected.
The NDP has strenuously denied that its MPs did anything wrong, saying they followed House of Commons spending rules when the offices were opened.
The party is challenging the board's finding in Federal Court, calling the decision a politically motivated attack by the Conservatives and Liberals made behind closed doors in a "kangaroo court."
Commons to deny expense claims until NDP MPs pay back disputed funds: Duncan | National Newswatch
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