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OTTAWA – Fifty years ago, a talented athlete named “Red” Kelly played professional hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs – while holding down a job as a member of Parliament for the riding of York West. An MP from 1962 to 1965, he also helped the Leafs win Stanley Cups.

The recent controversy surrounding Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s refusal to pay back a speaking fee to a charity group in New Brunswick – and then having a change of heart – has generated a much-needed debate about a broader issue: whether MPs should accept such fees at all. Isn’t this practice at odds with the general concept of public service, something for which elected officials are already adequately paid?

Justin Trudeau’s speaking fees affair, and the Senate and MP expense and ethics scandals, all reveal how negligent federal politicians have been in establishing strong, clear rules and ethical standards for their jobs. And as many other ongoing scandals reveal, politicians across Canada have been equally negligent.

The House of Commons may be shuttered, but the Senate is still very much in session as Upper House denizens continue to work their way through the legislative to-do list, which, at press time, still includes that all-important final approval of the budget bill — one of the few things that actually does have to make it through to Royal Assent before the Red Chamber can close down for the summer — as well as the government’s efforts to tighten up the witness protection regime, modernize the rail safety laws, and perform technical tweaks to various and sundry tax laws.