Lavigne's expenses: Senate's hands tied

Last year, MPs collectively spent over $1.5 million on hospitality. But don't ask whom they were wining and dining at public expense, much less why.
In the world of parliamentary expense accounts, actual spending details are none of the public's business.
Parliament is one of the very few institutions of government completely beyond the reach of the access-to-information laws.
For years, even the auditor general has been denied access to the books of the Commons and Senate, which together cost taxpayers more than $500 million a year.