Auditor General Sheila Fraser wants to look into the millions of dollars in expenses Canada's MPs receive every year, but is finding resistance from the political establishment in Ottawa.

Canada's 308 MPs received about $127 million in expenses last year but there are no public details into exactly how that money was spent. Some $700,000 of that money is simply classified under "other."

The expenses are approved by an all-party committee, the Board of Internal Economy, and then audited by a private accounting firm.

Fraser began talks with the House of Commons and the Senate about MPs' spending earlier this year, before the massive British MP spending scandal that destroyed dozens of political careers.

Liberal MP Mauril Belanger, who sits on the Board of Internal Economy, told CTV News that "there are no scandals like you have seen brewing in England" hidden from the public.

Belanger says there are strict spending rules and safeguards for MPs' spending.

"The rules are set, the expenditures must be within those rules, and if they're not, they're not reimbursed," he said.

But Kevin Gaudet, one of Canada's top tax watchdogs, says that Ottawa's self-regulation isn't enough.

"I don't see how the spending of taxpayers' money is a private parliamentary issue," the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told CTV News. "Quite simply put, it's taxpayers who ought to be able to judge for themselves whether they get value for that money."

Gaudet points to the Toronto City Council's protocol as proof that politicians' spending can be transparent. Toronto councillors list every cent expensed to the taxpayers and provide public receipts online.

Liberal Marlene Jennings is one of a handful of MPs who has allowed her expenses to go public.

"I have no problem whatsoever with those audits being made public so people actually see how the money is spent," she told CTV News.

About $26 million of the expense spending is for 64 free return airline tickets each MP has annually for travel between their riding and Ottawa, or other spots in the country. Spouses and dependents also have access to those flights.

Other major expenses are staff and rent.

On top of their $157,738 salary, MPs have a $25,500 annual expense allowance, which can be partially assigned to home costs if they have a secondary residence in Ottawa.

With a report from CTV's Chief Parliamentary Correspondent Craig Oliver and files from The Canadian Press