MONTREAL, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Canada's House of Commons is investigating allegations the Bloc Quebecois Party paid its general manager with taxpayer money.
A report in the Montreal newspaper La Presse Saturday claimed the party used funds from the House of Commons to pay party manager Gilbert Gardner's salary for seven years, beginning in 2004, Postmedia News reported.
The money, given to each party by the House, was intended to be used for parliamentary functions, not partisan purposes.
The La Presse report claimed Gardner, whose primary function was the organization and management of the party, was paid an annual salary from the public funds that increased over time and had reached more than $100,000 by the end of his mandate.
Former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe has denied that he or his party did anything wrong.
"There was never any attempt to hide anything ... and we always did everything legally," he said.
Duceppe's former chief of staff Francois Leblanc issued a statement in response to the La Presse article.
"I had to make many budgetary decisions for which I made the proper verifications to ensure their legality," the statement said. "To my knowledge, the practice of paying the general manager with the funds dedicated to the cabinet was not forbidden by the rules governing cabinets."
The House of Commons' Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs is looking into the allegations. If the Bloc did in fact break the rules, it could be forced to pay back up to $1 million.
