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OTTAWA — The Mounties have been asked to investigate whether a former Liberal cabinet minister charged taxpayers for the cost of his son’s wedding reception seven years ago.

The allegations against former Liberal MP Joe Fontana, currently the mayor of London, Ont., emerged with media reports suggesting he may have used his office expense account to cover the more than $20,000 bill to pay for a hall and reception for the wedding, held in 2005.

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In a statement on his website, Fontana said he was not aware of any investigation into his past spending as a federal politician, but that he was also looking into what transpired seven years ago.

“I will get to the bottom of this and I have started to obtain and review available documentation from 2005,” his statement said. “I am confident a thorough and fair review will clearly demonstrate all transactions were proper and valid.”

An all-party committee that oversees MP spending has asked the RCMP to investigate the allegations, but the incident raised questions about the secretive aspect of how MPs use their office budgets. The Board of Internal Economy annually reports how much MPs have used of their budgets, but details are not released.