House of Commons launches study of controversial travel spending rule

The House of Commons has launched a study of a clause in its spending rules that has allowed MPs travelling to caucus meetings connected to party conventions to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses over the past year.

Officials are also being asked to recommend ways the rules can be tightened up or improved.

Members of the Board of Internal Economy, which oversees the operation of the House of Commons and its spending, adopted a proposal from Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen to examine the exception to the general rule that prohibits MPs from claiming expenses related to partisan events, such as political party conventions.

«I'm hoping that we could perhaps give some direction to the staff here to go back and perhaps make some recommendations on how we can tighten up these loopholes,» Gerretsen told the board, which is composed of MPs from the four parties recognized in the House of Commons.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer took exception to the suggestion that there was a loophole in the spending rules, saying the provisions were agreed to by all parties in 2011.

«He's characterizing this as a loophole, but quite the opposite, it wasn't a loophole,» said Scheer, who served as Speaker at the time and was a member of the BOIE. «It was a conscious decision that the board made to put some rules around caucus meetings and travel.»

Scheer urged House of Commons officials to also study the cost of caucus meetings held outside of Ottawa that aren't held in connection with a party convention.

While the Conservatives, New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois have all held caucus meetings alongside party conventions, the Liberal Party decided in 2014 not to take advantage of that clause in the rules. It has, however, held