An Ontario senator who was suspended without pay after refusing to take down some racist letters about Indigenous people from her website is once again on the federal payroll.
Sen. Lynn Beyak’s suspension back in May applied to the final six weeks of the summer session and the 10 weeks leading up to Wednesday’s dissolution of Parliament, meaning that her pay is set to be reinstated.
Beyak is also eligible to make a return to the Senate once Parliament is back in session following the Oct. 21 election, though senators will be able to re-institute her suspension.
The letters on Beyak’s Senate-funded website include a declaration that “some good” came from Canada’s residential schools and that First Nations people should “trade in” their status cards for Canadian citizenship, even though First Nations people do have Canadian citizenship.
At the start of the 2015 federal election, the suspensions of senators Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau were also lifted. They were each suspended in November 2013 following allegations of fraudulent expense claims.
With files from The Canadian Press
