Don Meredith: Senator urges governor to strip title

Ottawa –

Senators voted to ask Gov. Mary Simon to strip former colleague Don Meredith of his “honorable” title.

Meredith resigned from the Senate amid a sexual misconduct scandal, and Ottawa police charged him with sexual assault and criminal harassment in October.

The Senate approved a motion asking Simon to “take the necessary steps to revoke the title of honor and the title of ‘honor’ from Meredith.”

Under official protocol, senators are to be considered “honorable” for life.

An ordained pastor, Meredith was appointed to the Senate in 2010 on the advice of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Shortly before the motion was passed, senators expanded it to seek to strip Meredith and former senators who were convicted of criminal offenses by indictment of their “honorable” titles.

Senators also amended a motion asking Simon to make this decision himself, instead of asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ask Simon to change.

In 2017, a Senate ethics officer concluded that Meredith had violated the House Code of Ethics by having an affair with a 16-year-old girl, and recommended that the Senate take the unprecedented step of deporting him.

At the time, Meredith admitted to the sexual relationships implied in the report, but said nothing happened until she was 18.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published on November 29, 2022.