OTTAWA—Sen. Patrick Brazeau will begin having his wages clawed back at the end of this month after missing a deadline to reimburse housing and travel expenses that a Senate committee found he claimed inappropriately.

The same could happen to Sen. Mac Harb if he does not pay back $231,649, including interest, in mileage and living expenses associated with his secondary residence in Ottawa by Wednesday night.

Conservative Sen. Gerald Comeau, chair of the Senate committee on internal economy, budgets and administration, said Brazeau was sent a letter Tuesday announcing he would see a 20-per-cent cut — after deductions — on each monthly pay stub until the federal government recovers the $48,745 he owes, including interest.

Comeau said Brazeau, who had until June 28 to pay the money back, would also need to reimburse $4,000 in legal assistance the Senate provided while the committee was investigating his claim that his primary residence was in Maniwaki, Que.

This is not the first time a senator has seen the amount on his pay cheque reduced.

Raymond Lavigne, a former Liberal senator who last month lost his appeal of convictions for fraud and breach of trust over ineligible travel claims and having his staff cut down trees on his farm in Wakefield, Que., saw part of his salary withheld for some time in 2007 so the Senate could recoup legal costs.

The basic annual salary for a senator this year is $135,200.

Debby Simms, a spokeswoman for Brazeau who works in his office, said in an email Tuesday she had no comment on the salary clawback, but noted Brazeau is fighting the findings and how the committee interpreted the rules in his case.

“Certainly in Canada, when one enters into an agreement, one does not expect the terms to be written in disappearing ink,” Simms wrote in a statement emailed Tuesday that suggests calling a public inquiry.

Simms also said Brazeau had acted in “good faith” when claiming expenses associated with his rental home in Gatineau, Que., when following both Senate policy and the advice of the Senate director of finance.

Simms said Brazeau is speaking to experts in government accountability and contract law and has also reached out to both the Senate ethics officer and the auditor general.

Meanwhile, Comeau said he remained hopeful Harb could avoid a similar fate.

“We’re still hopeful that he would clear it off by (Wednesday) night,” Comeau said Tuesday, adding the committee would be open to arranging a payment plan rather than demanding it all at once.

“We could make arrangements if he wanted to spread it over a length of time. We’d be more than pleased to look at whatever arrangement he’d like to make,” Comeau said.

Simon Ruel, a lawyer representing Harb in his legal challenge against the Senate committee findings, said he could not comment on the matter Tuesday.

Harb left the Liberal caucus when he decided to fight the findings of the committee.

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Brazeau was expelled from the Conservative caucus after he was arrested at his Gatineau, Que., home in early February.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and sexual assault and was placed on a forced leave of absence by his Senate colleagues.