Should $250 handbags, shoes, clothing and jogging gear be counted as campaign expenses? Recently resigned Status of Women Minister Helena Guergis thought so. She tried to claim $977 filed in the “other” category of candidate personal expenses, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Good thing the rules only allow $200 of expenses in the "other" category to be counted, leaving the taxpayer tab at $120 at worst.

If MPs are trying to expense these things as campaign expenses, who knows what they're claiming for their activities as MLAs. Revelations of these details were a huge scandal for MPs in the U.K last year and for MLAs in Nova Scotia in recent months. Canada's Auditor General wants to look into the MPs' books, but is not allowed to unless "invited".

Interestingly both NDP leader Jack Layton and Conservative MP Gerald Keddy have both publicly stated their opposition to the auditor general looking into this. Layton says an AG investigation would be "wasting money", while Keddy is opposed on the grounds it would be "giving the media an opportunity to find fault." These are weak excuses.What is it MPs would have to hide?

To their credit, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe both support an Auditor General investigation. Let's hope this happens. After all, if 308 MPs are spending $128 million annually to run their offices, waste is a given.