Sen. Brazeau recovering after collapsing in Senate due to ‘dizzy spell’

Sen. Patrick Brazeau speaks to media as he returns to his Senate office in Ottawa on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Sen. Patrick Brazeau is recovering after a “dizzy spell” made him “briefly lose consciousness” during debate in the Senate on the government’s major projects bill, a Senate spokesman said Thursday.

The 50-year-old Independent senator rose to speak before falling sideways to the floor just after 4 p.m. Wednesday. Based on video of the incident, it was apparent that Brazeau knew something was wrong just before he fell.

The Senate spokesman said Brazeau was taken to Ottawa’s Civic Hospital and returned home later that evening.

The spokesman said Brazeau is “recovering and in good spirits.”

Brazeau was alert when paramedics came to help him in the Senate chamber Tuesday afternoon, according to the spokesman.

He added the senator is grateful to paramedics, Senate colleagues and hospital staff for their “excellent” care.

Speaker Raymonde Gagné suspended proceedings for roughly half an hour after Brazeau collapsed and many senators left the chamber until she reconvened the debate.

Brazeau was about to speak on Bill C-5 when he fell. C-5 is a controversial bill meant to give Ottawa the power to fast-track “national interest” project permits to boost the economy.

The politically charged legislation has angered Indigenous and environmental groups who argue it does not adequately respect Charter rights and should not have been fast-tracked through Parliament.

— With files from Dylan Robertson and Alessia Passafiume.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press