The Senate ethics officer’s investigation into the conduct of former Senator Don Meredith was delayed for reasons beyond his control, including due to other Senators who didn’t respond to his requests for information, says a new report from the Senate Ethics Committee.
“The SEO was delayed in part by the lack of prompt responses to his requests for information from Senators and from some Senate committees,” said the report, signed by Conservative Senator Raynell Andreychuk (Saskatchewan), the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee.
“The [Conflict of Interest Code for Senators] requires that Senators make themselves available to the SEO for the purpose of an inquiry as needed. Again, this is an obligation that applies at all times, including when a Senator is serving on a committee seized of a request from the SEO,” the report reads.
“Though the committee notes the lengthy time of completion of this inquiry report, it is hopeful that all Senators will commit themselves—as required under the code—to prompt cooperation with the SEO in respect of any future inquiries.”
The committee decided not to take any action in response to Senate Ethics Officer Pierre Legault’s report, made public at the end of June, that found Mr. Meredith breached the Conflict of Interest Code for Senators by “engaging in behaviour…which constitutes both harassment and sexual harassment” of Senate staff. The committee found “no compelling reason to depart from” a rule in the code that says the Ethics Committee should permanently suspend action on such reports once the Senator involved “ceases to be a Senator.” Mr. Meredith resigned from the Senate in 2017 amidst a scandal over his sexual relationship with a teenage girl.
Conservative Senator Raynell Andreychuk is chair of the Senate Ethics Committee. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Mr. Legault’s report said that Mr. Meredith denied the allegations of harassment and sexual harassment against staff. Mr. Legault began his inquiry into Mr. Meredith at the end of 2015. The inquiry was automatically suspended when Mr. Meredith resigned in May 2017, then restarted at the behest of the Senate Ethics Committee on June 21 of that year. The inquiry was interrupted again wen then-Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard resigned nine days later, and it was delayed again between Dec. 1, 2017, and April 12, 2018, at the request of the Ottawa Police. The report was finished on June 28 of this year.
Several Senators said they were concerned with Mr. Legault’s lack of progress on any investigations in letters made public in February, according to a CBC report, including Sen. Andreychuk, Independent Senator Frances Lankin (Ontario), and Senate Liberal Serge Joyal (Kennebec, Que.).
The July 29 Senate Ethics Committee report found that Mr. Legault’s investigation had been held up by Senators who didn’t cooperate quickly with his requests for information.
“Your committee notes the unusually long time from the initial complaint to the SEO through to the completion of the preliminary review and this inquiry. The committee notes that many of the reasons for the considerable duration of this inquiry were beyond the control of the SEO or of this committee,” the reports says.
“All Senators, in all roles, must cooperate expeditiously with the SEO—this includes senators serving on other committees who must, even in the discharge of their committee obligations, cooperate with the SEO.”
The report said the Senate Ethics Committee would address the issue of “timeliness for the completion of inquiries” by the Ethics Officer in a forthcoming review of the Code of Conduct for Senators.
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Peter Mazereeuw is a deputy editor for The Hill Times covering politics, legislation, and the Senate.
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