Patrick Brazeau absent from Twitter, Senate on Friday

OTTAWA • A Conservative senator has gone silent on Twitter after confronting two reporters over stories critical of his Senate attendance record and a controversial court case.

Patrick Brazeau wasn’t in the Senate Friday afternoon when senators approved two government bills — C-38 and C-11 — and he was equally absent from the social media website Twitter with his account apparently deleted.

His last tweet was posted Wednesday night.

Neither the government nor opposition leader in the Senate would comment directly on the situation Friday during a live television interview.

“It is a difficult situation for all senators when this happens,” Marjory Lebreton, the government leader in the Senate, told the CBC’S Power and Politics. “Obviously I’m

hopeful that Sen. Brazeau will deal with some of the issues that he has to deal with and we’ll put this behind us.”

Mr. Brazeau apologized earlier this week after telling Canadian Press reporter Jennifer Ditchburn in a tweet that she should switch the ‘ D’ in her last name to a ‘B’ over a story that noted he had missed about one-quarter of Senate sittings.

Mr. Brazeau then confronted APTN reporter Jorge Barrera over a story about a civil court case involving allegations of impropriety that predated Mr. Brazeau’s time in the Senate. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Mr. Brazeau was an avid Twitter user, tweeting often about political issues and even hockey, particularly the Montreal Canadiens. However, he also confronted users he felt were slighting him online, and engaged in heated political debates, including over aboriginal issues.