Senator deserves to be fired

Re Senator’s affair with teen breached ethics:

report, March 10 What a sad state of affairs when our society needs to call in a Senate ethics commissioner to determine if a 48-yearold senator who is also a pastor broke any Senate rules when he initiated a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl a third his age. To add insult to injury, Sen. Don Meredith said that all these encounters were on his personal time and challenged the ethics commission’s right to investigate the matter. He is no stranger to controversy, as four of his former employees allege he made sexual advances toward them.

It appears the ethics commissioner’s hands are tied as she can only determine if a violation has taken place, but has no authority to carry out her recommendations.

Meredith was appointed senator by prime minister Harper in December 2010 following his fourth-place finish in the Toronto Centre byelection in 2008. He was expelled from the Conservative caucus in 2015, joined the Independent Senators Group and was subsequently expelled from it in 2016.

The senators in the house of sober second thought seem powerless to do anything except to show their disgust and strongly suggest Meredith resign.

I don’t want this senator to walk away unscathed with a footnote on his file simply saying “resigned.” Most people would say he deserves to be fired and lose his salary, his benefits, his expense account and his perks.

We want to refer to him in the past tense. This has been going on far too long. Is that too much to ask? Frank Feeley, Fonthill, Ont.