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A probe of Senate spending by Canada’s auditor general has become so detailed that senators are being probed on everything from the Christmas cards they sent, to the meetings they attended.

More than one senator has been asked about sending Christmas cards, a tradition for federal politicians. As auditor general Michael Ferguson’s teams sort through two years of expense claims, auditors asked one senator about the postage used to send three Christmas cards to the United States.

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Senators, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the audit, have told the Ottawa Citizen about the level of detail facing them:

– one was asked for photos of an event for which they expensed travel;

– one was asked to prove they had lunch with someone, even after filing a receipt;

– others have been asked about mileage claims, and whether they needed to attend events they drove to and if they were really for Senate business.