Pamela Wallin case prompts more unwelcome questions for Stephen Harper

Just whenStephen Harper wasgetting a reprieve from dailyquestions about SenatorMike Duffy's case, a new media report thatSenator PamelaWallin'sfilehas been handed to the Crown is renewingfocuson the Senate expensesscandal.

While campaigning at a factory in Burlington, Ont., Harperwasn't asked specifically abouttheCTV News report about Wallin's case. Instead, he wasquestioned about whether Wallin's initialrepayment of $38,000 of her questionable claims was part of a scheme to derail an audit into her expenses.

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The crowd of Conservative supporters booed, as they haveat other events where Harper was asked questions about Duffy.

Harper replied,"As I said at the time, I said that all of the individual expenses of all senators would be looked at, and those who were not following the rules would be held accountable. That is exactly what has happened in that and in the case of every single senator."

Harper haddefended Wallin's claims

It wasa much different response fromthe one he gavein Feb. 13, 2013. Standing in the House of Commons,HarperdefendedWallin'sSenate expenseclaims, saying he had looked at the numbers and that her costs were comparable with any parliamentariantravellingfrom her area ofthe country.

With the Duffy trialon hiatus until mid-November, the daily headlines about the involvement of the Prime Minister's Officein thatscandal hadbegun to taper off.Duffyhas pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed as a senator and later repaid with the $90,000 he received from Nigel Wright,Harper's chief of staff at the time.

Wallin's name came up among theemailspresented as evidence in the Duffy trial.In one dated Feb. 19, 2013, written by Wrightto then government leaderintheSenateMarjoryLeBreton, the chief of staff says,"I wouldexpectthat Sen.Wallinwould be given the opportunity to address any unusual expenses through repayment if that is appropriate, as she has done with someinadvertentlyclaimed."

Anotheremail, dated March8,referred to aquestion posed by aPostMediareporter about whether the Conservative Party was going to help repayWallin'sexpenses that involved partisan work.

That led to the now controversialemailfromWrightto Chris Woodcock, director of issues management at the time.

Wright, under the subject line "ReSen.Wallin," wrote"FYI only. No discussions withWallin. There was discussion re Duffy but decided no [Conservative Party of Canada] funds to be used."

Wright then added: "For you only. I am personally covering Duffy's $90K." Woodcock, in court, said he never read that part of theemail, and that he never knew about Wright's repayment, prompting more questions on the campaign trail forHarper about who knew what.

So these new developments involving thecontroversial expenses of another Conservative-appointed senator are obviouslyunwelcome news to the Tories, particularlyif they were to leadtocharges against Wallin.

Few details are known about the latest developments in Wallin's case, only that the RCMP, which hadbeen examining 150 expense claims of the senator,havehanded over their file to the Crown.

Terrence O'Sullivan, a lawyer forWallin,told The Canadian Press thatneither Wallin nor himself has been told by the Mounties or Crown attorneys that her investigative file is now under review to see if criminal charges should be laid.

In March,new documents revealedthatthe RCMP hadzeroed in on 21claims with regard to meetings with the University of Guelph, BMO Nesbitt Burns and CTV.Those claims are worth $25,567.31, according to the RCMP's forensic accountant.

Accusedof filing expense claims twice

The investigator said he believedWallinfiled her expense claims twice, once with the Senate and again with those companies, and that he believedshe committed fraud and breach of trust.

"Senator Wallin,when questioned during an external audit, misrepresented the nature of these trips to Toronto,"Cpl. Rudy Exantus wrote inan affidavit.

"I believe that Senator Wallin breached the standard of responsibility and conduct demanded of her and by the nature of her office. I believe that Senator Wallin's conduct represent[s] a serious and marked departure from the standards expected of a Canadian senator."

None of these allegations have been proven in court.

The expense claims were filed between Jan. 15, 2009, shortly after Wallin was named to the Senate, and Sept. 25, 2012.

In an interview with CBC Newschief correspondentPeterMansbridgein 2013,Wallinapologized for mistakes she may have made in some of the filingson her travel claims. She has since paid back a total of $154,191.29.