PEI Senator Mike Duffy uses Ontario health card, raising new residency questions - The Globe and Mail
Senator Mike Duffy has continued using an Ontario health card since he was appointed to the Senate in 2009 despite professing to be a resident of Prince Edward Island, The Globe and Mail has learned.
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan requires eligible cardholders to have their primary residence in Ontario, while the Senate requires members to live in the province they represent. This apparent discrepancy raises further questions about where the Conservative senator calls home, an issue at the heart of a controversy about Mr. Duffy’s residency claims and his housing allowance.
Mr. Duffy has billed taxpayers for more than $30,000 in housing expenses since September, 2010, according to reports, claiming that his suburban house in Ottawa is his secondary residence while his cottage in Cavendish, PEI, is his primary dwelling.
A Senate committee is seeking legal advice on Mr. Duffy’s living expenses as part of a broader effort to determine whether three senators have been filing inappropriate claims.
The 66-year-old senator, who recently applied for a PEI health card, had open-heart surgery in 2006, and his care team is at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Mr. Duffy, at the time of his appointment in 2009, was concerned that if he began paying taxes in PEI and using its health-insurance program, he would be forced to seek treatment elsewhere, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Senator Mike Duffy has continued using an Ontario health card since he was appointed to the Senate in 2009 despite professing to be a resident of Prince Edward Island, The Globe and Mail has learned.
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan requires eligible cardholders to have their primary residence in Ontario, while the Senate requires members to live in the province they represent. This apparent discrepancy raises further questions about where the Conservative senator calls home, an issue at the heart of a controversy about Mr. Duffy’s residency claims and his housing allowance.
Mr. Duffy has billed taxpayers for more than $30,000 in housing expenses since September, 2010, according to reports, claiming that his suburban house in Ottawa is his secondary residence while his cottage in Cavendish, PEI, is his primary dwelling.
A Senate committee is seeking legal advice on Mr. Duffy’s living expenses as part of a broader effort to determine whether three senators have been filing inappropriate claims.
The 66-year-old senator, who recently applied for a PEI health card, had open-heart surgery in 2006, and his care team is at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Mr. Duffy, at the time of his appointment in 2009, was concerned that if he began paying taxes in PEI and using its health-insurance program, he would be forced to seek treatment elsewhere, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
and pass on to his reward up yonder.
