Why I resigned from the ISG before my expulsion hearing: Senator Marilou McPhedran

On this day in 1929, the Supreme Court of Canada was overruled by the British Privy Council when Lord Sankey delivered the decision in what we now know as the Persons Case, confirming that women could be appointed to the Senate of Canada with these words: "exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours and to those who ask why the word should include females, the obvious answer is why should it not.” Statues of Nellie McClung and the other members of the Famous Five women who fought for gender equality in Canada stand outside of the Senate of Canada building. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia Ninety two years later, I have become the first Senator to face expulsion from the Independent Senators Group (ISG), although not from the Senate itself. At issue is an email I sent in early September to the Senate Ethics Officer, copying all Senators, raising concerns about media reports surrounding extra-parliamentary activities of a Senator, who holds a powerful position in the Senate. I did not identify the Senator in this email; however, when two weeks later he raised further information that allayed some of my concerns and indicated he found my comments objectionable, I apologized unreservedly by email copied to the SEO and all Senators. Nonetheless, leadership determined that it would use this email exchange as the foundation for my expulsion from the ISG. I asked that the expulsion hearing be held in public, in order to promote transparency in the Senate’s largest parliamentary group. However, that hearing will be held behind closed doors and will be lacking important hallmarks of due process: most importantly, there will be no requirement that Senators attend the hearing in order to be able to vote. I find the secrecy surrounding this process deeply troubling, as it is incompatible with my very public role as a Senator, and to the important issues of accountability and ethics that I have championed and which have ultimately led to this hearing. Senator Marilou McPhedran was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade I continue to strongly support the ISG commitment to modernization of the Senate; it is the primary reason I joined when the ISG was led by its founding facilitator, the late senator Elaine McCoy. However, I hesitate to participate in a hearing with a preordained outcome, and want to speak publicly about the low bar the Senate has set for itself when it comes to ethics, and my growing concern regarding the lack of space for divergent opinions within the ISG. When I arrived in the Senate, I noticed with surprise that, contrary to the practice in the House of Commons, Senators were permitted to take on extra-parliamentary activities, with associated incomes and benefits. Some of these activities, such as sitting on boards of directors of certain corporations, bring very lucrative incomes and benefits indeed, far in excess of those available to everyday Canadians. The Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code for Senators is clear that being a Senator is a “public trust”. It has always been unclear to me how that public trust is upheld when Senators are able to earn incomes that are orders of magnitude larger than their Senate salary (which is already more generous than the average Canadian’s income) by serving private and corporate interests at the same time they discharge their parliamentary duties. As a result, for years I have been raising these concerns with the Senate Ethics Officer, the Standing Senate Committee on Conflict of Interest and Ethics for Senators, and with the Senate at large, on many occasions to some colleagues’ discomfort. Senators Yuen Pau Woo and Raymonde Saint-Germain are the leader and deputy leader of the Independent Senators Group. The Hill Times photograph by Peter Mazereeuw I have continued to speak publicly about this subject, and I have not always been diplomatic in doing so. I believe that, as a result, I am sometimes perceived to be “difficult”. I have made mistakes and apologized for them, but my apologies have been rejected by the ISG leadership. However, there must be space in democratic institutions for members who are outspoken, who question the established ways of doing things, and who are willing to speak truth to power. The ISG has made it clear that it will not provide a political home for someone who asks uncomfortable questions and demands a higher standard of accountability. I have seen this in my efforts to raise the bar for the standard of ethics for Senators, and in my recent efforts to oppose increased secrecy and lack of reporting back to the Senate in the policy on harassment that was adopted in the last Parliament. The ISG’s discomfort with transparency is reflected in the unfair hearing process that all but guarantees my expulsion through secret proceedings, without public scrutiny and with no obligation on Senators voting to expel me to attend to hear my side of the story. This is directly contrary to the principles that I believed the ISG stood for when it was created, and when I actively participated in drafting its governing charter. For these reasons, earlier this morning, I submitted my resignation to the ISG. I look forward to the contributions I will continue to make as an independent Senator to increasing transparency and accountability in the Senate, thereby strengthening Canada’s democracy. Senator Marilou McPhedran represents Manitoba. The Hill Times

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Why I resigned from the ISG before my expulsion hearing: Senator Marilou McPhedran

The ISG leadership has made it clear that the group will not provide a political home for someone who asks uncomfortable questions and demands a higher standard of accountability.

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