Evan Solomon, host of CBC Radio's The House, reflects on the ongoing controversy over expenses claimed by some Senators in his weekly radio essay, as heard on March 9, 2013.

Does breaking the rules mean anything anymore?

Should breaking the rules have consequences?

Let's ask the Senate.

Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, a Conservative Senator from Québec, is repaying $907 in living allowance expenses he says he "mistakenly claimed."

This on top of the fact that he admitted he had a relationship with his executive assistant and communications officer, Isabelle Lapointe.

So, what's happened to Senator Boisvenu in the wake of all this?

Absolutely nothing.

Senator David Tkachuk, the chair of the committee on internal economy, released a statement saying "while no rules were broken, Senator Boisvenu has reimbursed the Senate for expenses the Senator has stated were mistakenly claimed."

"The Committee is satisfied with Senator Boisvenu's explanation and has closed this issue," Tkachuk said in a written statement last Thursday.

Did you follow the logic there?

The Senator admits he mistakenly claimed money that he shouldn't have.

So how do you claim money you shouldn't get and still not break the rules? I don't follow that.

If he did it willfully or inadvertantly, well that's a different issue.

But that's not all.

Senator Boisvenu made the mistaken living allowance claims while he'd moved in with his girlfriend, who also happens to be his employee.

That makes this all pretty complicated, don't you think?

Making questionable expense claims, living with your assistant…

But for Senate?

Case is closed. No investigation, no conflict of interest, no accountability.

In fact, the Senate ethics officer was not even called in.

It doesn't even register.

In the Senators code of conduct, there is actually no formal prohibition against all this stuff.

One source inside the Senate told me that in the private sector, Senator Boisvenu would be fired. But in the Senate, there is nothing they can do.

The source also told me there are new rules coming to Senate to deal with this kind of thing — and the controversy around living expenses.

I'm not sure the Senate needs more rules, maybe they just need more consequences.