SENATOR SUES HOUSE OF COMMONS

Lawsuit over slip in Centre Block cafeteria

A Conservative senator and his wife are suing the House of Commons, the public works department and the Canadian government after the senator slipped on a spill in the Centre Block cafeteria.

The lawsuit says Sen. Fabian Manning slipped on clear liquid “on or about” the evening of June 9, 2015, which caused him to hit his head so hard on the marbletiled floor that he lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to the Ottawa Hospital.

Afterward, according to the lawsuit, the 53- year- old Newfoundland senator suffered from post- concussion syndrome and soft- tissue injuries to his neck, back, left shoulder and left hip. It claims he’s had impaired cognitive functions, chronic headaches and disturbed sleep, and was prescribed “various medicines and assistive devices.” The suit seeks $250,000, plus damages.

Neither Manning nor his lawyer responded to phone calls or emails on Friday and over the weekend. ( The Senate was not sitting on Friday.)

The fall apparently didn’t keep Manning from his Senate duties at the time, as Hansard shows he was active in the chamber throughout June 2015, including on the day after his reported slip, when he tabled a report and cast two votes.