Philip Toone D?put? de A Gasp? sie ?Iles-de-Ia-Madeleine info@toone.ca PhilipToone Sans frais 1 866 368-1855 Bureaux du dejout? Ottawa 123 0, Ed. La Promenade Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0A6 T.: 613 992-6188 F.: 613 992-6194 Gasp? C?te Carter Gasp? (Quebec) G4X 1T5 368-1855 Carleton-sur?Mer 642-3, boulevard Pen-on Carleton-sur~Mer (Quebec) GOC 110 T. 418 364-1401 iles?de?la-Madeleine T35, ohemin Principal, #208 nCap-aux-Meules Iles-de-la-Madeleine (Quebec) G4T 1G8 - T. 418 986-5552 a: mas CDMMUNES CANADA Chers coll?gues, Comme vous le savez sans doute, certains membres du Bureau de r?gie interne (BRI) se sont servis de la question des bu reaux 'de I?Opposition officielle pour faire progresser leu rs int?r?ts partisans. Ma collegue Nycole Turmel et moi crovons qu?il est inappropri? pour un membre du BRI de se servir de cet orga ne du Parlement pourfaire progresser les int?r?ts de son parti. ekiste un conflit d?int?r?ts evident entre notre role de politicien partisan et notre devoir de prot?ger l?argent des contribuables. Dans notre opinion dissidente d?pos?e au Comit? permanent de la procedure et des affaires de la Chambre en d?cembre 2013, bien ava nt le d?but de la controverse actuelle, nous avons affirm? ce qui suit Le NPD estime d?ficient le systeme par quuel le BRI administre les affaires financieres de la Chambre, notamment en ce qui concerne les d?penses des d?put?s. Dans l??tat actuel des chases, le public ne peut pas faire enti?rement confiance aux d?cisions du BRI. Le v?rificateur g?n?ral du Canada a d?clar? ce qui suit dans son m?moire pr?sent? au comit? l?ann?e derni?re A mon avis, a lieu d??tablir des m?canismes de surveillance ind?pendants du Parlement afin d?am?liorer la gouvernance des d?penses parlementaires et d?accroitre la confiance du public envers l'e r?gime pa rlementaire. 0n trouve des exemples dans d?autres pays pour appuyer cette approche.? Nous ?tions d?accord avec le v?rificateur g?n?ral a ce moment-la et nous le sommes toujours. Je suis stir que les renseignements que nous avons donn?s au BRI a la derniere r?union nous exon?reront de toute infraction de nature partisane, mais les Canadians ne pourront pasjuger de cela par eux-m?mes puisque le BRI continue de tenir ses r?unions a huis clos. Je demande' explicitement que la r?union clu BRI soit tenue en public. Je demande ?galement aux membres du Bureau de r?gie interne de se r?cuser ole cette affaire ?minemment partisane ?tant donn? que le Bureau de r?gie interne s?est d?ja av?r? tres partisan a ce sujet. Nous devons confier cette tache a un organisme ind?pendant qui pourra trancher. J?attends vos r?ponses avec impatience. Cordialement, Philip Toone, d?put? . Gasp?sie?uTles-de-laMadeleine Philip Toone Member Parliament for Gasp?sie ?Iles?dc?la?Madeleine info@toone.ca PhilipToone Toll Free: 1 866 368-1855 of?ces Ottawa 1230 La Promenade Building Ottawa, Ontario KIA 0A6 T.: 613 992-6188 F.: 613 992-6194 Gasp? C?te Carter Gasp?, Quebec 64X 1T5 T.: 418 368-1855 Carleton-sur?Mer 642-3 Perron Boulevard Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec GOC 1J0 T.: 418 364-1401 iles-de-la-Madeleine 735 Principal Street, #208 gap-auX-Meules Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec G4T 1G8 T.: 418 986-5552 House or COMMONS CANADA Dear Colleagues, As you are no doubt aware, the issue of offices used by the Official Opposition has lately been used by some members of the Board to further partisan interests. land my colleague Nycole Turmel believe that it is inappropriate for members of the Board of Internal Economy to use our positions on this body to advance our own political party interests. There is an obvious conflict of interest between our role as partisan politicians, and the need to protect public money. As we stated in our dissenting opinion to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs in December 2013 long before the current controversy arose: ?The NDP considers the current structure of the Boa rd of Internal Economy for carrying out the financial matters of the House, specifically in regard to Member of Parliament (MP) expenses, to be flawed. Under the current system, full public confidence in the Board?s decisions cannot be achieved.? And as the Auditor General of Canada stated to the Standing Committee last year: ?In my view, creating oversight mecha nisms that are independent of Parliament should be considered to improve governance of parliamentary expenses and enhance public trust in the parliamentary system. International experience once again provides examples to support this approach? I We agreed with the Auditor General then, and we agree with him now. I fully expect that the information that we provided to the Board at the last meeting will exonerate us of any partisan charges, but the public will not be able to judge that for themselves since the Boa rd continues to have meetings behind closed doors. I explicitly ask again that the meeting of the Board be made public. I further propose that members of the Board recuse themselves from taking on such blatantly partisan determinations, given the Boa rd has proven itself to be overwhelmingly political on this matter. We must hand the job of fact finding over to an independent body that can make a determination. await your replies. Sincerely, Philip Toone, MP Gasp?siemlles-de-la-Madeleine