Pressure mounts on Meredith

Senator asked to resign after damning ethics probe that found he had sex with teenager

— The chorus of voices calling on Sen. Don Meredith to resign in the wake of a damning ethics probe into his sexual relationship with a teenage girl is growing, along with expectations that a vote on his future should take place before the end of the month.

The question is whether the Senate has the right to boot one of its own, something it has never done.

Senate sources, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly, say that internal legal advisers believe the upper chamber has the power to expel a senator and declare the seat vacant and do so by a simple majority vote. Other experts, inside and outside the Senate, point to three sections of the Constitution that give the Senate the power to punish its own without an outside body like the courts interfering.

The ethics committee will decide what punishments, if any, Meredith should face following a damning report from the Senate ethics officer last week.

The report said Meredith had sexual relations with a woman once before she turned 18 and twice after she turned 18 and also had explicit online chats with her. Meredith, 52, acknowledged in the report that he had sexual relations with the woman, but only after she turned 18.

Ethics officer Lyse Ricard ruled that Meredith used his position as senator improperly and that he violated the Senate’s ethics code.

Senate insiders expect the ethics committee to deliver its report on March 28.

The possibility of a prolonged and ugly debate about punishments has led senators to call on Meredith to resign rather than drag out the affair and face the possibility of an ignominious vote on the floor of the Senate.

Andre Pratte, a high-profile senator appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, over the weekend wrote to Meredith saying people will forgive him if admits to his mistakes, but that won’t be enough to repair the damage to public confidence.

In the open letter sent Sunday, Pratte said Meredith’s conduct as a senator and as a man was unconscionable.