Bitch, Whine, Complain

   That pretty much sums up the reaction from a member of Canada's (unelected) Senate after an audit found improperly claimed expenses. It's been a major scandal in my country ever since several APPOINTED members of the upper house were caught with their fingers in the proverbial cookie jar. Allegedly, they were claiming expenses they weren't entitled to.
   Well, one of the senators in question has been ordered to pay back 360 thousand dollars, and will pay interest, but is far from happy about it. The senator in question says the audit done by an external company was flawed, and the process was unfair. Just like (allegedly) claiming expenses you were not entitled to? The probe also claims the upper chamber members calendar had retroactively been "amended", which the senator denies.
   The case of the (alleged) questionable expense claims is, of course, leading to calls in my country to either radically amend the senate.....or scrap it altogether. Personally, I favor abolition. The senate was supposed to be the chamber of sober second thought, where government legislation was vetted thoroughly before being passed into law.
   Unfortunately, it's become a dumping ground for political patronage, where cronyism reigns supreme, and the government of the day simply appoints however many more they need to get their legislation passed.
   If we are to keep the upper chamber, then we need to take a page from the Americans, and have an elected senate, with strict seat numbers AND term limits. But since either of those solutions are not likely to happen in the short term, I guess we're in for more of the same. I just hope the company that did the audit has lots of staff, 'cause I think that given the current state of the senate, they're gonna need them
   'Nuff said.