Only two things are certain in life - death and taxes. Right Considering the political events over the past few years in Saskatchewan, perhaps we could add another item to the list - politicians will always be around to feather their own nests.

Of course, we've all read the sickening stories about the Tory fraud scandal, highlighted by the recent trial of Senator Eric Berntson. But two other recent events have poured more fuel on the fire of our cynicism towards politicians.

Over the Easter holiday, we learned about provincial politicians from all parties who were filling their baskets with goodies. An all-party committee of politicians, which oversees MLA expenses and allowances, voted to increase their own per diems by 14% and give themselves a $20,000 severance allowance. This "transitional allowance" will equal one month's salary for each year of service, up to a maximum of four months. The severance would amount to $20,000 for virtually all politicians who aren't old enough to collect their MLA pensions when they lose an election.

This is substantially more generous than what they would receive in the private sector. But even more appalling, where else in the working world do employees have the power to determine how much their own golden handshake is worth when they are fired from a job Talk about a conflict of interest!

The second recent event involves several current and former NDP politicians who are now facing allegations the non-profit corporations they set up to run their constituency offices used the operating surpluses illegally.

For example, a non-profit organization set up to manage an office shared by several current and former politicians, accumulated a surplus of $11,000. But instead of the money being handed back to taxpayers, this surplus ended up in an NDP scholarship fund.

Also, several other non-profit corporations set up by NDP politicians didn't file financial returns, as required by law, and others don't appear to have even been officially registered.

In another case, $23,000 was reportedly paid for insurance on a rented constituency office that had just a few thousand dollars worth of furnishings and equipment.

As of yet, there is no evidence that any of the NDP politicians used the funds for personal gain. But with the smell of Tory scandal still fresh in their nostrils, you can hardly blame taxpayers for being just a little cynical these days about what may be in store for them as new revelations come to light.

It may have been a happy Easter for the politicians, but it was April Fool's for taxpayers. Each of these events points out a couple of things very clearly. First of all, we need better accountability and reporting mechanisms for the expense and constituency allowances provided to our elected officials. The rules should be clear and unbendable. Secondly, an independent commission of taxpayers should decide what is fair and reasonable compensation for MLAs, not the politicians themselves.

As long as the politicians have the ability to line their own pockets at our expense they will. It's up to us as taxpayers to find a way to stop them - once and for all.