SENATOR MUST GO
After sober consideration and much legal research, the Senate’s ethics committee has reached the same conclusion as just about everyone else who has followed the Don Meredith saga: This man needs to be gone from the Red Chamber, period.
Having not had the decency to resign after details of his tawdry, inappropriate sexual relationship with a young woman first emerged, Meredith has instead been the subject of two public reports on his conduct: a detailed examination by the Senate ethics officer, made public in March, and this week’s fresh committee report concluding that expulsion is the only credible response to conduct that has disgraced a chamber already viewed dimly by many Canadians.
The full Senate must still approve the committee’s recommendation, and there is some debate about whether senators actually can expel a colleague (he could, of course, resign and save them the trouble). As a result, the committee’s report is replete with legal explanations about what is allowed under the Constitution Act 1867 and what the Senate’s oft-amended Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code means. In the end, though, the committee understood the obvious, writing “Senator Meredith failed to uphold the highest standards of dignity inherent in the position of senator and acted in a way that reflected adversely on the position of senator and on the institution of the Senate.” It called his behaviour “one of the most egregious breaches” of the role of a senator and said that even suspension without pay, which Meredith’s lawyer had proposed, wouldn’t be enough.
Part of its stern conclusion is based on Meredith’s actions: using his prestige and office to “lure” a young woman, and indulging in ongoing sexual activities with her, including “masturbation over Skype, sexual touching, sexual innuendo and consensual sexual intercourse before and after the person had reached the age of 18.” All while posing as a champion of youth.
The other part was based on his lack of remorse. The Senate ethics officer had noted that “at no time did he take responsibility for his inappropriate behaviour,” instead adopting “an indifferent attitude” toward the ethics probe itself.
Canada’s unelected Senate has seen its share of scandal. It is also struggling with attempts to change its traditional ways of operating. It is an institution under intense scrutiny. Fortunately, many senators seem aware of what is at stake. Meredith must go.