Got cc'd on an e-mail to the Prime Minister the other day that I thought was worth sharing (the author agreed to let me reprint here).

It was also sent to MP Russ Hiebert.

Here you go:

Mr. Prime Minister,
 
This concerns the recent disclosure of Mr. Hiebert's expenses charged to the Canadian taxpayer to transport his family back and forth to Ottawa so as not to cause the family from being disrupted or separated albeit for a limited period of time only.

I was an employee of the federal govenment and was assigned to Singapore with diplomatic status for 3 years during which time I was required to make regular vists to Bangkok,Thailand and Manila in the Philippines on business. I travelled alone and flew economy class because both destinations were only approximately 3 hours duration. According to government regulations we were not allowed to travel business class unless the flight was 8 hours duration or longer.

I did take my wife along with me on a few occasions to each of these destinations however I was required to pay for all of her travel, meals and incidental expenses as were all other government employees for family members without exception. Mr. Hiebert may be a member of parliament but he is still a civil servant meaning that he is here to serve his constituents and shouldn't be allowed these special or extraordinary monetory privileges as I see it.

We are still going through difficult times struggling to crawl our way out of a recession and these perks and whatever other incidental charges that Mr. Hiebert and other MP's may be occuring should be curtailed.

I also believe that it is in the best interest of Canadians that that the Auditor General be allowed to conduct an audit of MP's expenses and that thay be made public. The Auditor General DOES have the authority to perfom this function. Section 5 of the "Auditor General Act" R.S.C 1985, c. A-17 provides that the Auditor General is ".....The auditor of the accounts of Canada" and the statute does not make any exemption for parliamentery expenses.

I am a member of the Conservative Party and have made financial contributions to the party. Having been made aware of these recent developments which I find totally objectionable I herewith cancel my membership in the Conservative Party and will be returning my membership card forthwith.