[LINK] "Senator Pamela Wallin leaves Conservative caucus"

[rfmcdonald]

Pamela Wallin, formerly a prominent CBC journalist then a Canadian diplomat before becoming a Conservative senator, is following Mike Duffy in leaving the Conservative caucus in Senate while her expense claims are being examined.

Wallin, a former journalist who now represents Saskatchewan in the Senate, has claimed about $321,000 in travel expenses since September 2010 that are the subject of an audit by an outside firm.

"I have been involved in the external audit process since December 2012 and I have been co-operating fully and willingly with the auditors," Wallin said in a statement. "I have met with the auditors, answered all the questions and provided all requested documentation.

"I had anticipated that the audit process would be complete by now, but given that it continues, I have decided to recuse myself from the Conservative caucus and I will have no further comment until the audit process is complete," she said.

[. . .]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has defended Wallin in the past over her travel claims.

"Her travel costs are comparable to any parliamentarian travelling from that particular area of the country over that period of time," Harper said in the House of Commons in February. "For instance, last year Senator Wallin spent almost half of her time in the province she represents in the Senate."