Canadian Senate Ousts Three Members

Nov. 6, 2013 8:21 a.m. ETOTTAWA—The Canadian Senate, controlled by members of the governing Conservative Party, took the rare step late Tuesday of suspending three former Conservative senators embroiled in an expense-claims controversy that has dogged Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper this year.
The upper chamber voted to suspend Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau without pay, for an indefinite period. The three senators have repeatedly said they did nothing wrong and had clearance from officials to file the expenses in question.
The suspension came after nearly three weeks of a highly charged debate in which the three senators, accused of inappropriately claiming housing and travel expenses totaling near 300,000 Canadian dollars ($288,000), leveled a series of allegations against Mr. Harper and his most-trusted aides about their role in trying to limit the possible political fallout from the spending firestorm. Mr. Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, stepped down last May after it was revealed he repaid the expenses of one of the three senators.
Senators from the opposition ranks and a handful of Conservative lawmakers had criticized the vote for not following due process or allowing the targeted senators to formally defend themselves against the allegations.
“It is an extremely sad day for democracy,” Ms. Wallin told reporters in a brief statement following the vote.
The only other time the upper chamber suspended a member was in 1998, when a Liberal senator was removed due to absenteeism.
Members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the prime minister. Conservatives hold 60 of the 105 seats in the upper chamber, with 49 of those senators appointed by Mr. Harper.
The suspension is the latest development in a spending scandal that has dominated headlines in Canada, overshadowing Mr. Harper’s recent achievements such as a tentative free-trade deal with Europe and a marked improvement in the federal government’s finances. Canada’s national police force is undertaking its own probe of the Senate expense controversy, but has declined to comment on the status of its investigation.
In a fiery speech at a Conservative Party gathering last Friday, Mr. Harper said the former Conservative senators “have shown little or no remorse” for their actions and the upper chamber should suspend them. He has held the same hardline tone when questioned in parliament about the scandal.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

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