Canadian Senate to suspend three former Conservative members for 'gross negligence'

Source: The Globe and Mail

The Senate is taking steps to suspend three of its own without pay as the institution looks to distance itself from an ongoing controversy over some members’ expense claims.

Claude Carignan, the new government leader in the Senate, announced on Thursday that he will move three separate motions to suspend Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau from the Red Chamber for “gross negligence” in managing parliamentary resources.

All three senators are former Conservatives who were appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and all are under investigation by the RCMP after external auditors found problems with their expense claims. A fourth, former Liberal Mac Harb, quit in August. None of the senators under investigation have been charged in connection with their expense claims.

The scandal has been deeply damaging for the Conservative government, which came into power with a promise to reform the Senate. Earlier this year, the government announced the leader in the Senate would no longer have a seat at the cabinet table, a move widely perceived to be part of an attempt to contain the controversy within the Red Chamber.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/senate-to-debate-suspending-duffy-wallin-without-pay/article14908111/