SENATOR MEREDITH APPEARS BEFORE ETHICS COMMITTEE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Apr 04, 2017
By Bob Komsic
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Toronto-area Tory Senator Don Meredith appeared before the Senate ethics committee for the first time to make the case for why he should remain a member of the Red Chamber after his sexual relationship with a teenage girl.
The five-member body must now decide on an appropriate sanction after the Senate ethics officer found him in violation of two sections of the Senate’s code of conduct.
The chair of the ethics committee, Senator Raynell Andreychuk, said after the meeting: ”Everything is under consideration.”
That would mean the possibility of expulsion, something that’s never happened in Canadian history.
Meredith left without making comment and his lawyer says his client will not make any statements out of respect for the process.
(Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian Press)
Independent Senator Andre Pratte, who’s not a member of the committee, says Meredith should be kicked out of the Senate because what he did do not befit the office of senator.
Meanwhile, fellow independent Senator Anne Cools, says Meredith’s actions are a private matter and that the Senate should not be policing members personal lives or considering expulsion, saying that’s a ”slippery slope.”