Senator facing music
Sen. Don Meredith is facing a committee of his peers this morning as the Senate inches closer to deciding whether he should keep his seat in the upper chamber after a damning report that concluded Meredith abused his position when he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl.
The head of the Senate’s ethics committee says all options are on the table when it comes to possible punishments for Sen. Don Meredith over his sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl.
While she wouldn’t go into details, Sen. Raynell Andreychuk’s committee will have to decide whether the answers it heard from Meredith were enough to spare him from a recommendation that he be expelled from the chamber. Andreychuk said the committee wants to promptly finish its deliberations on the complicated case, weighing the impact of its decision on Meredith, other senators and the public, as well as how it will effect the reputation of the Senate, which is trying to distance itself from years of scandal. Andreychuk, a Conservative from Saskatchewan, didn’t say when a final decision would be made.
“This is not a criminal case. This is a disciplinary case,” said Andreychuk, a former provincial court judge.
“Patience is the word to make it fair, and taking in all the factors.”
The Senate ethics committee met behind closed doors for almost three hours on Tuesday, with much of that time granted to Meredith to testify about an ethics investigation that concluded he abused his position as senator when he had a sexual relationship with a teenager.
After his testimony, Meredith left by a side door and didn’t speak to reporters.
No one involved in the meeting discussed details of what Meredith said, citing committee confidentiality rules.
Bill Trudell, Meredith’s lawyer, said the Toronto-area senator had to take frequent breaks during what was described as professional, engaged questioning. Meredith is on sick leave from the Senate, but wanted to testify in person, Trudell said. Trudell said he believes Meredith may have to meet the committee again, or file more documents, given the complexity of the arguments and some unanswered questions arising from the meeting.
Trudell urged the public not to prejudge the outcome of the hearings.
He also said senators who have publicly called on Meredith to resign or be booted from the chamber should let the process play out.
“The public in this country respect process and the process is in place,” Trudell said after the meeting.
“I absolutely don’t agree that the public is going to demand something without respecting the process. That’s not the way we work in Canada.”
Meredith’s case is the first time the ethics committee has had to deal with a critical finding under the revamped ethics code that gave the Senate the right to discipline members for personal conduct.