OTTAWA -- Parliament's most secretive committee -- the all-party Board of Internal Economy that sets the rules for how half-a-billion dollars is spent every year by MPs and the House of Commons -- opened its doors just a crack Tuesday, providing a few details on what it's been doing for the last six months.
Among other things, this committee, whose meetings are never open to the public or press, decided:
To let MPs bill taxpayers for accommodation expenses for spouses and kids who visit them at work in the nation's capital; cover the cost of lawyers for some MPs in legal trouble, and to remind MPs that they cannot put members of their immediate families on their office payroll.
At least one MP - and possibly more - did just that though no names were released.
It also decided to cover some of NDP MP Pat Martin's legal bills in his defamation suit but only if Martin wins at court.
