Prince Edward Island senator and Humpty Dumpty lookalike Mike Duffy, an Ottawa resident since the 1970s, has claimed about $33,000 in living expenses meant to offset the costs of maintaining a second home in the nation’s capital. He has owned his Ottawa home since well before he was appointed to the Senate in 2008, which makes it difficult to fathom why he’s allowed to bill taxpayers up to $900 a month for simply living in his house.

The Ottawa Citizen’s ace reporter Glen McGregor, for whom this isn’t the first housing-related scoop, was told that what Duffy has done is well within the Senate’s rules. According to David Tkachuk, head of the Senate’s board of internal economy, senators need not prove that they live in their primary residences (which Duffy claims to be a cottage in P.E.I.).

The man is entitled to his entitlements, I guess. At least he doesn’t have a moat.

Duffy was a longtime political reporter for CBC and CTV, although his conservative views were obvious to anyone who saw his ovoid form on their television screens. Thus, it was no surprise when Stephen Harper appointed him to the Senate after the 2008 election, although many people objected even then on the grounds that Duffy doesn’t actually spend much time in P.E.I.

So how does Mike Duffy defend his living expenses?

“I have done nothing wrong, and am frankly tired of your B.S.,” he wrote in an email to McGregor.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first time Duffy’s expenses have come under fire. Back in 2009, after serving only three months in the Senate, the good senator had already racked up over $40,000 in travel expenses. A visibly drunk upset Duffy went on TV to simply call his critic a “faker” and malign him for not supporting the military enough, which is always a good sign that someone has no good arguments.

The people of P.E.I. should be proud of having such a no-nonsense senator fighting waste and corruption on their behalf in Ottawa. They can thank him next time he uses some of his travel allowance to visit the island.

UPDATE: Aaaaand, here’s another one: Liberal senator Mac Harb.

Ottawa Citizen Wikipedia