Manitoba Senator Janis Johnson defends expense record

Manitoba senator Janis Johnson says the auditor general's Senate expense report is "inaccurate and misleading."

Johnson said on her website she understands why the auditor general is reviewing a number of Senators for filing inappropriate expense claims, but maintained she personally hasn't done anything wrong.

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Johnson wrote on her website that she thinks it's imperative whenever public funds are spent that it's done with prudence and that proper records are kept of expenses.

"I can assure you that throughout my 25-year tenure as a Senator that has always been forefront on my mind," Johnson said.

The Auditor General has come to a wrong conclusion in my case.- Janis G. Johnson

But she also said she's rarely used all of her allowable travel points in the period from March 2011 and April 2013, which is currently under review.

Johnson said in a letter addressed to the auditor general's office that she's provided the appropriate paper work showing her expenses have all been above board.

"The auditors appear to have either not read that material or ignored it," she said in the letter. "My expenses were in complete compliance with [the Senate Travel Policy] and any conclusion to the contrary is innaccurate and misleading."

Johnson said she feels the auditor general's decision to review her record in particular has been based on a whim that doesn't hold to the facts.

"[The auditor general] said that while I did conduct parliamentary business on every trip, they simply 'felt' these trips were more for personal reasons than parliamentary business," she said on her website. 

"The genesis for all of the trips was parliamentary business; personal affairs were only added to the trips after that."

Johnson went on to explain that the Senate Travel Policy permits the "blending of personal business with parliamentary business, as long as no expenses are submitted in regard to the personal portion of the travel."  

"This is exactly what I did in the case of these trips," she said. "I have followed the Senate Travel Policy scrupulously and ... the auditor general has come to a wrong conclusion in my case."

Johnson provides a full explanation regarding her parliamentary travel claims and a 120-page document sent to the auditor general that explains every trip that has been called into question.

Read her full statement and letter to the auditor general's office below: