Meredith’s lawyer eschews race card
Trudell says he is trying to encourage appropriate response over embattled senator’s affair with teenager
TORONTO — Beleaguered Sen. Don Meredith’s new lawyer said he hoped to temper the intense emotions unleashed by an ethics report on his client’s affair with a teenager, adding the race card is now off the table.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Bill Trudell said he had agreed to try to help the black senator, who is fending off widespread calls for his resignation in light of the damning account of his conduct with the young woman.
“I definitely am not going to try to assist Sen. Meredith or the Senate on the basis there’s any racial prejudice involved in the alleged conduct or the decisions,” Trudell said. “Some people may feel that. Some people may react, but I don’t think that assists.”
The prominent criminal lawyer said he agreed on Monday to help Meredith, 52. The lawyer said it’s obvious the senator, who said he has taken sick leave on doctor’s orders, is under enormous stress.
While people are understandably furious over the politician’s behaviour, Trudell called for calmer voices to inform the debate raging inside the Senate and across the country on Meredith’s future. “I’m hoping to turn the temperature down here,” Trudell said. “There’s a lot of people saying things and calling for his resignation or prejudging. I just don’t think that helps.”
The Toronto-based lawyer said he wanted to curb the “emotional contagion” and find a proportionate response to what the politician did.
The senator has spoken publicly only once since the report from the Senate’s ethics officer came out earlier this month — repeatedly apologizing for his “moral failing” and begging forgiveness. He also told The Canadian Press that “absolutely, racism has played a role” in the furor.
While the upper chamber wants to deal with the issue quickly, Trudell noted he had just taken on the case and was still getting up to speed on the constitutional issues involved. As such, he said he hoped the Senate’s ethics committee would give him time to allow for his constructive involvement and his client’s health to improve.
The lawyer said no one has any intention of throwing up road blocks as the committee does its job before reporting to the Senate, which will ultimately decide whether it should try to boot Meredith amid questions about whether it has the power to do so or take some other action.
On Wednesday, the Senate’s ethics committee met behind closed doors to discuss potential sanctions that range from a reprimand to outright expulsion. Earlier this month, Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard concluded the married Pentecostal pastor had improperly used his position to lure a “vulnerable” 16-year-old teen into a relationship that became sexual.