Senate motion to strip 'Honourable' title could affect at least two former senators
Senate motion to strip 'Honourable' title could affect at least two former senators
OTTAWA -
At least two former senators could be stripped of the title of "Honourable" following a motion the upper chamber passed on Tuesday.
Former senator Don Meredith, who is facing criminal charges for sexual assault and harassment, is specifically named in the motion and was the impetus for its introduction.
But the motion also calls for other former senators who have been convicted of a crime for which they were indicted to lose the title, which senators normally carry for life.
The Senate's administration says it doesn't keep tabs on who might fit that profile.
"The Senate does not maintain a list of former senators who have been convicted of a criminal offence proceeded with by way of indictment," Ross Ryan, a spokesman for Senate Speaker George Furey, said in a statement.
It's ultimately up to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to determine whether anyone does lose the title. "We cannot comment at this time," a Rideau Hall spokeswoman wrote Wednesday.
The motion may apply to Raymond Lavigne, a former Quebec senator who served time for fraudand breach of trust.
Lavigne was convicted of defrauding the Senate with more than $10,000 in bogus travel-expense claims in 2011 and sentenced to six months in jail followed by six months of house arrest. He resigned from the Senate 10 days after the conviction but only began his jail term in 2013 after losing an appeal.
A judge heard that the former Liberal senator had enlisted one of his Senate employees to cut down 60 trees on his property near Ottawa during paid office hours, and filed mileage-expense claims for rides he did not take.
Lavigne could not immediately be reached for commentWednesday, and his former lawyer said he lacked the former senator's contact information.
Two other convicted former senators seem unlikely to be affected by the motion.
Former Sen. Eric Berntson, a Conservative who represented Saskatchewan, died in 2018, and the "Honourable" title only applies for the duration of a former senator's life. Berntson had resigned from the Senate in 2001 after a fraud conviction involving provincial expense allowances during his time as an member of the provincial legislature.
Meanwhile, former Sen. Michel Cogger, a Conservative who represented Quebec, was granted an absolute discharge in 2001 of his conviction of influence peddling.
Wednesday's motion follows a nearly three-year effort by senators across the partisan spectrum to respond to Meredith's alleged treatment of a teenager and Senate staff.
In 2017, the Senate ethics officer concluded that Meredith had violated the chamber's code of ethics by engaging in a relationship with a girl when she was 16, and recommended the upper house take the unprecedented step of expelling him.
At the time, Meredith acknowledged the sexual relations outlined in the report but said nothing had taken place until she turned 18.
About two months after the report's release, Meredith resigned from the Senate just as senators were believed ready to go through with the ouster.
A second Senate investigation, released in 2019, found Meredith had repeatedly bullied, threatened and intimidated his staff, as well as touched, kissed and propositioned some of them.
Meredith, an ordained minister, was appointed to the Senate on the advice of former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2010.
Former Liberal-appointed senator Serge Joyal first launched an effort to remove Meredith's "Honourable" designation in December 2019, shortly before his retirement.
He handed the baton to Quebec Sen. Josee Verner, who tabled a motion in February 2020, less than a month before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
The Conservative-appointed senator, who is now a member of one of the Senate's non-partisan groups, said her research suggested Parliament had never stripped someone of the title.
"Former senator Meredith exhibited the most despicable behaviour possible in the history of this institution," she told the chamber in French.
"He did so with impunity, with utter contempt for ethics rules and against the dignity, well-being and rights of his victims."
The motion died when the Liberals prorogued Parliament in August 2020, and Verner reintroduced it this October, with the same phrasing, as the Senate caught up on business that predated COVID-19.
Her motion cites the two ethics reports and a 2020 statement in the Senate that expressed "regrets to the victims of Mr. Meredith's misconduct," all of which predated this fall's news that criminal charges were being formally laid against Meredith.
Shortly before the vote on Tuesday, Manitoba Sen. Mary Jane McCallum said the motion is the bare minimum the Senate can do to make up for "inadequacies within our workspace" that have left people traumatized.
"We have seen how negative perceptions about a senator's conduct can harm public confidence in individual senators. Every single one of us in this chamber gets shed in the same harsh light," said the senator, who was appointed under the independent process set up early in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's tenure.
Right before the vote, Alberta Sen. Scott Tannas amended the motion to include other former senators convicted on an indictable offence, a move that followed consultation between the Senate groups.
The chamber unanimously passed the motion as amended by Tannas, who was appointed by Harper but now sits in one of the Senate's non-partisan groups.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2022.
Groups that advocate for seafarers are expressing concern for 11 sailors who are spending a harsh Quebec winter aboard three tugboats that have been detained for months in the port of Trois-Rivières.
Singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. became a first-time Grammy Award winner at the pre-broadcast ceremony where fellow Canadians Michael Buble and Drake also picked up trophies.
Canada has sent one of its military planes to Haiti to help the country cope with escalating violence. A joint statement today from National Defence Minister Anita Anand and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada has deployed a CP-140 Aurora aircraft to help 'disrupt the activities of gangs' in Haiti.
Canadian researchers are drawing attention to the increasing prevalence of 'a pathological pursuit of muscularity' among Canadian boys and young men, with a new study that found one in four were at risk of developing what's known as muscle dysmorphia.
A Montreal woman is passing along her father's extensive collection of over 31,000 Expos baseball cards. April Whitzman's father, Steve Whitzman, collected the cards from 1969 to 2016. A huge Expos fan, he's got every player covered.
An investigation that lasted almost two years has resulted in moose hunting violation convictions for six people and a lodge in Red Lake in northwestern Ontario.
Charles Kimbrough, a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who played a straight-laced news anchor opposite Candice Bergen on “Murphy Brown,” died Jan. 11 in Culver City, California. He was 86.
China may respond to the U.S. shooting down its suspected spy balloon after warning of 'serious repercussions,' but analysts say any move will likely be finely calibrated to keep from worsening ties that both sides have been seeking to repair.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
More than two years after downtown Beirut was levelled by an explosion, a Lebanese-Canadian family of a 3-year-old girl killed in the blast is still searching for answers. Watch W5's documentary 'The Explosion' on CTV at 7 p.m.
In Canada, Medical Assistance in Dying is changing. In 2023, people who have a mental disorder as their sole underlying medical condition will become eligible for an assisted death. Originally, that was scheduled to happen on March 17, but the government has asked for a delay. CTVNews.ca/W5 outlines 9 things you need to know about MAiD.
On CTVNews.ca/W5: Executive Producer Derek Miller highlights an example of a W5 mini investigation that never made it to air, but made a difference in someone's life nonetheless.
On CTVNews.ca/W5: Executive Producer Derek Miller highlights some of W5's upcoming investigations, including Mexico's multi-billion dollar avocado industry run by cartels, and a continuing look into the Pivot Airlines passengers and crew who were detained for months without charges in the Dominican Republic.
The five-member Pivot Airlines crew, who had been detained in the Dominican Republic for almost eight months, is now back in Canada. An emotional airport reunion took place in a special pre-arrivals area of Toronto Pearson International Airport, as the two flight attendants, pilot, co-pilot and mechanic were greeted by family.
Councillors in Toronto are set to consider keeping warming centres open 24-7 for the rest of the winter amid growing calls for homelessness to be declared a public health crisis in the city.
The debate on elected officials pledging allegiance to King Charles III will shift to a small town south of Ottawa this week, as Prescott town council discusses a motion on whether to abolish the requirement for newly elected members.
An armed robbery at Conestoga Mall, a hearing on a 2018 Kitchener house explosion, and a school cancelling Valentine's Day round out the most ready stories of the week.
London Lightning players looked a little different at their game Sunday, turning in their yellow jerseys for purple ones to bring awareness to the issue of male violence against women.
Windsor police say a vehicle convoy marking the one-year anniversary of the Ambassador Bridge blockade is expected to arrive in the city Sunday afternoon.
Montreal conductor and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin scored two Grammys for his classical works Sunday evening. Nézet-Séguin won best opera recording for "Blanchard: Fire Shut Up In My Bones," and best classical solo vocal album for "Voice Of Nature - The Anthropocene."
Groups that advocate for seafarers are expressing concern for 11 sailors who are spending a harsh Quebec winter aboard three tugboats that have been detained for months in the port of Trois-Rivières.
While the crude suicide rate in Quebec in 2021 was about 13.3 per 100,000 people, it was almost three times higher among veterinarians. No fewer than 15 suicides have been recorded in 15 years by the Quebec association of veterinarians (AMVQ).
After one of the coldest days in years for most of the Maritimes, temperatures were up significantly Sunday. Now, after the big chill came the big thaw -- and a flood of calls for local plumbers.
Cold weather alerts that blanketed eastern Canada for the past two days have largely lifted, but some Nova Scotians and New Brunswickers remain without power due to outages caused by the frigid temperatures and high winds.
New Brunswick RCMP has requested the Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) conduct an inquiry after a man died during a police response Saturday.
Singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. became a first-time Grammy Award winner at the pre-broadcast ceremony where fellow Canadians Michael Buble and Drake also picked up trophies.
A masseur's appeal of three convictions for sexually assaulting female clients has been partially successful – with one of the guilty verdicts being set aside by B.C.'s Court of Appeal.
A $2.8 million grant from the City of Vancouver to the local health authority will help expand a program that pairs police officers with mental health nurses in the city.
On Tuesday in Ottawa, Canada's 13 premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will sit around the same table in person for the first time since COVID-19 hoping to find a path toward a new long-term health-care funding deal.
Canada has sent one of its military planes to Haiti to help the country cope with escalating violence. A joint statement today from National Defence Minister Anita Anand and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada has deployed a CP-140 Aurora aircraft to help 'disrupt the activities of gangs' in Haiti.
Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti says he is open to amending bail laws, which have come under increased scrutiny following the shooting death of an Ontario Provincial Police officer.
Canadian researchers are drawing attention to the increasing prevalence of 'a pathological pursuit of muscularity' among Canadian boys and young men, with a new study that found one in four were at risk of developing what's known as muscle dysmorphia.
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) is calling on the federal government to do more for cancer patients, as the system continues to struggle nearly three years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paid subscriptions to on-demand care are among the many strategies primary health-care providers in Ontario are adopting in order to meet increased demand for access to doctors in the past year, while also managing staffing shortages.
Using a device that might be described as a super-duper cocktail shaker, scientists have fashioned a previously unknown form of ice - one that might exist on our solar system's icy moons - in research that sheds light on water's behaviour under extreme conditions.
Aaron Grinhaus' Toronto law firm is one of a growing group of companies setting up offices in a virtual world called themetaverse to push the envelope and learn more about the emerging technology.
Singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. became a first-time Grammy Award winner at the pre-broadcast ceremony where fellow Canadians Michael Buble and Drake also picked up trophies.
Charles Kimbrough, a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who played a straight-laced news anchor opposite Candice Bergen on “Murphy Brown,” died Jan. 11 in Culver City, California. He was 86.
Aaron Grinhaus' Toronto law firm is one of a growing group of companies setting up offices in a virtual world called themetaverse to push the envelope and learn more about the emerging technology.
The federal Finance Department says Canada is joining its fellow G7 countries plus Australia to expand caps on Russian oil to include seaborne petroleum products from that country.
A Portuguese dog named Bobi has been named the world’s oldest living dog by Guinness World Records, which claims the pooch is also the oldest canine ever recorded.
Canada's newest millionaire, an 18-year-old university freshman from northern Ontario, has achieved a lot of firsts with a recent lottery win. Here is her story.
A Montreal woman is passing along her father's extensive collection of over 31,000 Expos baseball cards. April Whitzman's father, Steve Whitzman, collected the cards from 1969 to 2016. A huge Expos fan, he's got every player covered.
Canadian featherweight Kyle 'The Monster' Nelson fought 'The Korean Superboy' Doo-ho Choi to a controversial majority draw early Sunday on a UFC Fight Night card.
Skateboard legend Tony Hawk says he will donate half of the proceeds of autographed photos of himself and BMX rider Rick Throne to the memorial fund for Tyre Nichols.
Formula One's governing body confirmed the six engine providers for the 2026-30 cycle on Friday which aims to use sustainable fuels and greater electric power.
New research suggests that cutting fossil fuel emissions by adopting electric vehicles can improve air quality and potentially reduce respiratory problems in communities. But these benefits may not apply to all neighbourhoods in the same way.
