Thursday, October 24, 2013

Senator Complains "This Is Canada, Not Putin's Russia"

"A show trial"........That's how New Brunswick Senator Jim Munson characterises the goings on in the Senate to suspend Senators Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau without pay because they have become a political embarrassment.
 

Munson goes so far as to call the motion a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by assuming guilt in advance of a hearing of any kind where the rights of the accused are defended by lawyers. Duffy and Wallin were given all of 20 minutes to make the case why they should not be suspended. 

Munson says Senators have not had a chance to see the Deloitte report on Senator Wallin's expenses and even the residency requirement is not clearly defined because it doesn't stipulate how many days you have to live in that residence in the province where you're appointed from.
 
He suspects the government chose to move ahead on this at a politically expedient time just before the opening of Parliament.