Manitoba senator also spent $108,082 on travel in the last year A non-affiliated senator from Manitoba is the biggest spender in the Red Chamber — but she defends her expenses by saying she’s an active parliamentarian who needs a lot of help and wants to pay her consultants fairly. Marilou McPhedran, named to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, spends comparatively more than other senators to retain outside aides and consultants. Since January 2021, McPhedran has awarded $193,881 worth of contracts to part-time and casual employees —Read more