Senate communications comes under microscope in midst of transparency scandal

OTTAWA – A bipartisan move is afoot to look at retooling the multimillion-dollar Senate communications directorate, a body some see as part of a larger transparency problem inside the upper chamber.

Since the ongoing Senate spending scandal erupted earlier this year, the office has been struggling to deal with a deluge of calls and requests for information.

Senators and the media alike have grown frustrated with the office’s refusal to release basic information or anything more than bare-bones responses.

A small committee of Conservative and Liberal senators first began discussing the idea of improving communications in 2012, long before the current scandal broke.

Conservative Sen. Carolyn Stewart Olsen says there is a lot of support within the Senate for the idea of a review and Liberal Senate leader James Cowan says he likes the idea.

Cowan also likes the idea of a private member’s bill that would introduce cameras in the upper chamber for the first time.