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Canada’s auditor general has notified senators that a sweeping probe of their spending may include visits to their homes, and that they could be interviewed under oath in “exceptional circumstances.”

The details are laid out in documents auditor general Michael Ferguson’s office provided to senators in November about the comprehensive audit of Senate expenses. Copies of the documents, including a three-page letter Ferguson wrote to senators, were obtained by Postmedia News.

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Aside from housing expenses, the spending audit includes the following expense areas:

Travel — both personal and while on Senate or inter-parliamentary committee business — and hospitality expenses;

Staffing policies, such as hiring and firing of employees, which internal audits have flagged in the past as being problematic;

Office spending, such as purchases of goods and services, including contractors for research. Office budgets in the last fiscal year were $161,200.