Members of the Senate’s ethics committee will review the case of embattled Senator Don Meredith today and\u00a0begin the process of formally sanctioning the Toronto-area senator for his relationship with a teenage girl.<\/p>\n
Committee members will meet behind closed doors at 3 p.m. to study\u00a0the Senate ethics officer’s report, which was compiled after a two-year investigation into Meredith’s sexual relationship with a young woman he first met at an Ottawa church when she was just 16.<\/p>\n
Meredith, a 52-year-old Pentecostal pastor,\u00a0was appointed as a Conservative senator by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2010 before becoming a member of the Independent Senators Group (ISG). He\u00a0denies many of the allegations\u00a0levelled\u00a0against him by the woman in question \u2014 who is identified by\u00a0Lyse\u00a0Ricard, the ethics officer, as “Ms. M” in the report \u2014 but has said\u00a0he had sexual intercourse with her on at least one occasion when she was over 18.<\/p>\n
Ricard found that Meredith violated two sections of the code of ethics, namely that he did not uphold the highest standards of dignity inherent to his position, and that his actions reflect adversely on the institution of the Senate.\u00a0Ottawa police investigated the matter but dropped the case without pressing criminal charges.<\/p>\n
Meredith will not appear at the committee today\u00a0because the senators will meet in camera\u00a0with no invited guests.\u00a0Under the Senate’s own rules, Meredith must be\u00a0given the opportunity to appear before the body at some point to mount a defence of his behaviour.<\/p>\n
He had retained Toronto lawyer Selwyn\u00a0Pieters to represent him during his appearances before the committee,\u00a0but Pieters\u00a0said Monday he is no longer representing Meredith<\/a>.\u00a0Pieters\u00a0had said that Ricard unfairly targeted his client as a “predator” because he is a black man<\/a>.<\/p>\n Because Ricard\u00a0found Meredith breached his obligations under the ethics code, it is not a matter of if, but how he will be punished, according the rules. There are a number of remedial measures the committee can recommend the Senate\u00a0impose\u00a0on\u00a0Meredith for his transgressions, including:\u00a0<\/p>\n Elaine McCoy, the leader of the Independent Senators Group, has already\u00a0asked Meredith to step away from her caucus, and she has removed him from all of his committee assignments.<\/p>\n The ethics committee will then deliver its recommendations to the Senate chamber, and all senators will have a chance to vote on sanctions against Meredith.<\/p>\n There have been near universal\u00a0calls for Meredith’s resignation since\u00a0Ricard\u00a0released her report two weeks ago.<\/p>\n Peter Harder, the\u00a0Trudeau\u00a0government’s representative in the Senate, has said Meredith should resign, and if he does not leave voluntarily the chamber’s leadership will consider its options.<\/p>\n The Senate has never expelled one of its own, but came close after Liberal Senator Andrew Thompson posted continually dismal attendance records\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he was present in the chamber only 28 times in a 14-year period<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but they ultimately decided on a suspension because of concerns about constitutional complications.<\/p>\n Similarly, the chamber suspended Senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin for irregularities in their expenses, but those suspensions expired when the last election was called. All three have since returned to their seats.<\/p>\n A suspension is temporary, whereas an expulsion would remove Meredith from the chamber entirely, stripping him of his title and his right to sit in the chamber for good.<\/p>\n\n
Senators considering expulsion<\/h2>\n
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