A defiant David Dingwall defended his spending as president of the Royal Canadian Mint, appearing in front of a federal Commons committee Wednesday, saying he believes he will be absolved of excessive spending allegations.

"Although all of my expenses were thoroughly scrutinized during my tenure, should the independent audit discover any error, I will repay the corporation fully," the former Liberal cabinet member and political appointee to the mint said at the hearing.

"However, I make this promise lightly, because … I have full confidence that no errors were made.

"I await the audit report with confidence, that the auditors will find the expense of my office were appropriate," he said.

Though Dingwall stood his ground, his defiance did not deter Opposition members from reproaching him during a combative two-hour-long hearing.

Dingwall resigned from his appointment last month after being accused of racking up an exorbitant expense account and questions were raised about his years as a private lobbyist.

Documents obtained by Conservative MP Brian Pallister under the Access to Information Act revealed $748,000 was billed to the office of the mint's president in 2004 -- an amount which included $130,000 in foreign and domestic travel, $14,000 in meals and even $1.29 for a pack of chewing gum.

'I paid for the car myself'

Dingwall, who insists he did nothing wrong, accused Opposition MPs of making misleading claims about his personal expenses.

Indeed, he said more than two-thirds of the sum went toward salaries.

He insisted reports stating he charged the mint for the lease of a BMW car were wrong.

"I paid for my car myself," said Dingwall, adding the mint covered the operating costs of the car under his contract with the Crown corporation.

"I am also confident that the auditors will find that the corporation did not pay for a package of gum," he said Wednesday, holding up a pack of Dentyne to press his point.

But Pallister dismissed his arguments, saying in another back-and-forth with Dingwall: "You ain't gonna' Wrigley out of this one."

Dingwall also told the committee that it wasn't taxpayer dollars he spent, as his critics allege, it was the mint's operating revenue.

He said because he had turned the mint into a profitable corporation within a year of taking over, taxpayers were not on the hook for the operating expenditures.

Dingwall's resignation

"Given that you were aware of information the Opposition did not seem to be aware of, that in your mind there were no irregularities with expenses, why would you offer to resign?" Quebec Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia asked Dingwall.

Dingwall said he resigned because he had an obligation as CEO to keep the mint out of the firestorm of controversy that followed the allegations.

"I resigned as president of the Royal Canadian Mint because I believed it was in the best interests of the Royal Canadian Mint for me to step down. ... Why? Because we didn't want to throw the mint into a crisis," he said.

But one firestorm led to another.

Dingwall faced aggressive questioning from a panel of MPs, who questioned whether he was entitled to severance pay in this case, or whether he got a special deal.

"There was no deal with the prime minister - no deal with the prime minister," Dingwall told a hostile panel of MPs during a combative two-hour committee hearing Wednesday.

"I spoke to the prime minister. It was a cordial discussion. He agreed and I agreed that it was in the best interest of the mint for me to move on."

Dingwall said he spoke to the clerk of the Privy Council about "entitlements" -- which would include severance -- and that his lawyers are now dealing with the matter.

New Democrat MP Ed Broadbent asked Dingwall if he thought it was ethical to seek severance pay, noting his salary, voluntary resignation and the hefty MP's pension he will receive as a former cabinet member.

Dingwall said: ""I think I'm ethically entitled to the entitlements which I believe are owing to me."

Tensions boil over

With Dingwall insisting that the issue was one for lawyers, tensions boiled over.

"I'll tell you there's a good chunk of the Liberal caucus that understands that paying you severance is nothing but an insult to the Canadian people. That's all it is," Pallister said.

Dingwall responded: "Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the honourable member for his non-partisan constructive comment."

Pallister was quick to fire back: (There's) nothing partisan about it. If you were in my party, I would be despising you as well."

Reflecting on his appearance at the hearing, Dingwall said he thought his message was "quite clear."

"We exposed the falsehoods of the Opposition party whereby they tried to characterize my cost centre as personal expenses. It has been a witch-hunt," he said, appearing on CTV's Mike Duffy Live.

"It has been a falsification of all the facts surrounding the activities that I have undertaken as president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint," Dingwall said.

Dingwall has also been criticized for failing to register as a lobbyist for a Toronto pharmaceutical company, a role he played before joining the mint.

The company reportedly agreed to pay Dingwall up to $350,000 for his help in securing grants under the Technology Partnerships Canada program. But program rules forbid companies from hiring lobbyists.

On Wednesday, Dingwall refused to accept that anything was amiss, telling the committee his contract was "amended" when it became clear the deal broke federal rules.

"I never received a 'success fee'," Dingwall said.

The mint has hired auditors Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt to examine the spending rules that give the Crown corporation president wide discretionary spending powers.

A separate audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers will weigh Dingwall's expense claims -- from March 2003 through September 2005 -- against spending rules currently in place at the mint. The results of that audit are expected to be released next week.