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Senate sources said Monday that between five and 10 senators who were subject to Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s sweeping review of Senate spending appear to have problematic patterns in their expense claims.

The final number in this position isn’t yet clear; the sources were not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of the red chamber.

The problem expense claims have previously been pegged by sources at being worth more than $100,000 in some cases, with housing and travel claims at the root of problems the auditors uncovered in looking at expenses filed between 2011 and 2013.

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But in this sea of bad news is a golden opportunity for senators to show they’re serious about imposing real consequences for criminal behaviour. There is currently a private members bill before the Senate — Bill C-518 — which, if passed, would result in a senator or member of Parliament losing their pension if convicted of one of 19 serious Criminal Code offences, including theft, fraud and breach of trust.

As the law stands today, federal politicians can be (and have been) convicted of these serious crimes and still collect their taxpayer-funded pensions. Those who rip off Canadian taxpayers, and are found guilty by a court of law, can nonetheless continue to live off of taxpayer largesse. Simple common sense tells us this is wrong.

Some have argued that taking away a politician’s pension would be too severe a punishment, and that jail time alone should suffice. But this overlooks the fact that politicians are uniquely placed to abuse the public purse: they alone have the power to tax and spend public money, and indeed are the writers of the laws themselves. Is it too much to ask that they then be held to a higher standard than others who are entrusted with no such special powers or responsibilities? Is it too much to ask that taxpayers not be forced to send bi-weekly cheques to the very people convicted of ripping them off?