Embattled Senate looking for key hires
An embattled Canadian Senate struggling to restore financial accountability amid an ongoing expenses scandal is hiring for a couple of key positions: chief financial officer (CFO) and director of communications.
“Reporting to the Chief Corporate Services Officer (CCSO), the CFO will provide corporate leadership own finance and procurement functions within the Senate, while providing expert advice to the CCSO, the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration and its Steering Comamittee, as well as Senators and the Senate Administration,” reads the job posting for the chief financial officer.
“As the ideal candidate, you are a respected financial leader possessing a university degree in a relevant field and a professional accounting designation. You bring 10+ years of progressive experience in comptrollership, funding control and accountability, accounting and analysis, auditing, procurement, policy and systems development.”
The desired CFO candidate also must have “strong team orientation” and a collegial approach to inspire, coach and mentor a team of financial professionals as the Senate “embarks upon a period of transformation,” according to the posting.
The director of communications, meanwhile, will be responsible for “renewing the Senate’s communications function into a modern business model” that partners with senators, Senate committees and others.
The person hired will also be accountable for directing the Senate’s approach to “a proactive communications model that seeks more outreach and engagement of external stakeholders, including key target audiences and the media, to raise the profile and knowledge of the Senate’s various work activities, major reports and other achievements.”
The ideal candidate must have a strong understanding of evolving social and digital media strategies and be “politically savvy by nature,” according to the job posting.
It’s a challenging time for the so-called chamber of sober second thought.
Sen. Mike Duffy’s criminal trial — on 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to questionable Senate expenses and consulting contracts — continues in an Ottawa courtroom.
Fellow senators Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau — who, like Duffy, were appointed by Stephen Harper — are facing their own issues over their Senate expenses.
Brazeau faces charges of fraud and breach of trust related to his Senate living expenses, while Wallin is being investigated by the Mounties over her Senate travel expenses. Retired Liberal senator Mac Harb also faces fraud charges.
Also, a scathing report in June from the federal auditor general flagged 30 senators for problematic or questionable expense claims totalling almost $1 million, including nine current and former senators whose files have been referred to the RCMP.
Of those nine, two are sitting senators: former Conservative Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu (who resigned from the Tory caucus) and Independent Liberal Colin Kenny.
Another group of 21 senators — including Speaker Leo Housakos, Conservative Senate Leader Claude Carignan, and Independent Liberal Senate Leader James Cowan — were named in Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s report for thousands of dollars in questionable spending.
As well, Sen. Don Meredith resigned from the Conservative caucus in June following allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-yearold girl, and his case has been sent to the Senate ethics officer.