Senate colleagues urge Meredith to quit
OTTAWA — Colleagues of all political stripes pilloried Don Meredith and urged the controversial senator to give up his Senate seat Friday after an explosive ethics investigation of his sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl.
Sen. Peter Harder, the Liberal government’s point man in the Senate, denounced Meredith’s conduct as disturbing, unacceptable and an affront to Canadian standards of decency as he urged him to step down for the sake of his family.
Even some who once defended Meredith said the only honourable thing for him to do was never set foot in the Senate again.
Harder said Meredith’s resignation would ensure he didn’t drag himself, his family, the woman he was romantically involved with and the Senate as a whole through the mud — a fate Harder suggested Meredith should want to avoid.
Meredith, a married father of two and an ordained minister, has remained silent and has yet to respond to comment.
It’s unclear if the Senate has the authority to expel Meredith over the conduct detailed in Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard’s report.
The upper chamber has never turfed one of its own for any reason.
In 2013, it did suspend three senators without pay for a parliamentary session — Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau. And in 1998, Andy Thompson retired after being suspended without pay for having barely set foot on Parliament Hill for years.
Several senators said they would like to see the Senate impose the harshest punishments possible against Meredith.
“I’d be very disappointed if he walked through the doors of the Senate again,” said Conservative Sen. David Wells of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In a long-awaited report released Thursday, Ricard said Meredith failed to uphold the “highest standards of dignity inherent to the position of senator” and acted in a way that could damage the Senate itself.
The report found Meredith, 52, used his Senate cellphone for explicit chats, tried to help the woman land an internship on Parliament Hill, promised her a committee appointment and suggested he could help with her mother’s permanent residency file.
Ricard also detailed sexually explicit online video chats between the two.
The report said Ricard believes Meredith had sex with the woman at least once before she turned 18, and twice after she turned 18. Meredith acknowledged he had sexual relations at least once with the woman after she turned 18, the report said.
In a letter attached to the report, Meredith told Ricard he deeply regretted what happened and vowed he would never breach the ethics code again.
Meredith was removed Friday from his leadership post within the independent senators’ caucus.
Appointed by former prime minister Stephen Harper, Meredith quit the Conservative caucus in June 2015 after the Toronto Star first reported on the relationship.