[2] Part-way through the first session of the 61st General Assembly, the NDP, under Premier Darrell Dexter, announced that it would "eliminate an MLA severance payment as well as their ability to sell their office furniture and equipment.
[3] On February 3, 2010, Nova Scotia's auditor general, Jacques Lapointe, released a 142-page report suggesting that for the period between July 2006 and June 2009, "several politicians had filed 'excessive and unreasonable' claims, in part because of inadequate spending controls.
[1] In the wake of the Auditor General's report, Speaker Charlie Parker compiled a full list of "questionable expenses", which was made public on February 8.
[4] On February 9, 2010, the first political casualty of the scandal occurred when Richard Hurlburt, Progressive Conservative MLA for Yarmouth, resigned days after the Auditor General's report had shown he had spent about $8,000 on a generator, for his home.
[15] During his trial, Zinck pleaded guilty to criminal counts of fraud and breach of trust, and was sentenced to imprisonment for 4 months, followed by probation for 1 year.