When J. Patrick Boyer writes that the recent senate expenses scandal “dominated media coverage, overtook the national conversation,” he may be overstating the case just a little bit. The story of four senators – Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau, and Mac Harb – who allegedly fudged their residency and claimed expenses they weren’t owed was an undeniably big story, but for many it only confirmed their sense that the senate is an anachronism filled with partisans who are being repaid for their loyalty to a political party. For others, it served as a reminder that Canada has a senate.

The first 160 pages of Our Scandalous Senate provide a well-written and detailed recap of the scandal. It doesn’t shed any new light on the situation, but does collect all the events in one place. Boyer draws heavily on the reporting of Bob Fife, the CTV reporter whose award-winning work on this story was exemplary.

The last 200 pages rehash the history of the senate and various efforts at reform, including those of the author, a Progressive Conservative MP during Brian Mulroney’s tenure as prime minister. Much of this detail could have been condensed, with more attention paid to what might be done to reform the senate now and why it continues to prove so difficult to change.
Boyer is a largely amiable guide. His writing seldom distracts from the story he is telling, but neither does it manage to render the tedious passages enjoyable.

Boyer also makes some claims that are difficult to support. For example, writing about Duffy and Wallin, two former journalists who became senators, Boyer claims that “quite a few reporters are secretly hungry for the power and paycheque that accompanies being a press spokesperson for government.” But this is not as self-evident as Boyer makes it seem.

There is not enough new material in Our Scandalous Senate to satisfy anyone who was really caprivated by this story, but, for now, it should find a place in library collections as a serviceable reference text.