Canadian senator breached ethics code with ‘Freedom Convoy’ rant: watchdog – National | 24CA News
The Senate ethics watchdog has discovered Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald violated the code of conduct with a vibrant rant throughout the “Freedom Convoy” protest final 12 months, and a refusal to adjust to an investigation into his actions.
The Nova Scotia senator was caught on video in February 2022 castigating downtown Ottawa residents who complained in regards to the weeks-long demonstrations in opposition to COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and the Liberal authorities.
In the video, MacDonald described the residents as overpaid and underworked.
“It’s everybody’s f—ing city, this is the capital of the country. It’s not your goddamned city just because you have a six-figure salary and you work 20 hours a week. You haven’t worked a full week in two years. It’s sickening,” MacDonald says within the recording.
In the video, MacDonald refers to his spouse as “a Karen” — a derogatory time period for a self-entitled girl — for opposing the protests. Despite police ordering protesters to clear the scene, MacDonald provides that “I don’t want them to leave.”
MacDonald apologized for his remarks within the Senate final February. He informed media and Senate ethics officer Pierre Legault he had been ingesting that night. In the recording, MacDonald is heard asking that he not be recorded, and the videographer falsely claims he’s not on tape.
The watchdog has dominated MacDonald breached six sections of the code that governs senators, leaving a “significant impact” on the establishment.
“Senators are expected to represent Canadians, not denigrate, mock and demean them, while encouraging illegal activities at a time when a state of emergency had been declared,” Legault wrote in a report launched Tuesday.
He stated the senator’s request to not be filmed confirmed “an intentional failure to exercise dignified reserve and restraint.”
Legault has dominated that MacDonald’s feedback broke guidelines that senators “uphold the highest standards of dignity inherent to the position of Senator” and “refrain from acting in a way that could reflect adversely on the position of Senator or the institution of the Senate.”
The investigation started when 9 of MacDonald’s friends submitted complaints. The senator acknowledged that he’d fallen quick, welcoming Legault‘s guidance on how to rectify the situation.
The watchdog asked MacDonald to undertake three actions, two of which he followed: an apology in the chamber that would also be posted on social media.
The third proposed action was to have MacDonald note to his colleagues that his conduct could merit a censure, which is a formal expression of the Senate’s disapproval of one thing.
The report quotes MacDonald as rejecting that measure, writing that “there was nothing significant about ‘(his) conduct,’” as he didn’t break any legal guidelines, act aggressively or misuse Senate sources. “This is definitely not an ethical issue,” MacDonald is quoted as having written.
His lawyer claimed that the request violated the particular rights held by senators and MPs, often known as parliamentary privilege, in addition to the independence of the Senate. In a letter to the ethics workplace, the lawyer known as it “an insidiously coercive example of compelled speech.”
Legault, MacDonald and his lawyer exchanged a sequence of letters for greater than a 12 months, with the senator rejecting to reply an inventory of detailed questions he deemed to be irrelevant and issues of “partisan debate” that raised “highly controversial public policy matters.”
The senator was significantly upset on the watchdog asking whom he had dined with earlier than he made his feedback. Legault stated that info might have been related to figuring out who had witnessed the change with the one who filmed the remarks, and whether or not the senator was conducting parliamentary duties on the time.
MacDonald ultimately sought to have a Senate committee take up the difficulty, which the workplace stated would undermine the investigation course of, which is meant to be stored confidential and freed from political interference.
“His lack of co-operation was a flagrant disregard for the process outlined under the code and that has been duly adopted by the Senate, Legault wrote.
He said MacDonald should have shown “true remorse” for his feedback by telling his friends they might concern a censure.
Legault discovered MacDonald additional undermined the code’s requirement to behave “with dignity, honour and integrity” whereas endeavor parliamentary duties, due to his repeated refusal to adjust to the investigation. For that motive, the officer is now recommending “sanctions of penalties by the Senate” in opposition to MacDonald.
“His conduct in this respect was so egregious that there are no measures that would remedy the harm that his actions have caused to the office of senator and the institution of the Senate,” the ethics officer wrote.
“This is the first time a senator has not only refused to respect and comply with the inquiry process under the Code but has also argued for and attempted to follow a process that he himself has designed for his own inquiry.”
The Senate’s conflict-of-interest committee will obtain the report and will prepare hearings on the matter, though the Senate is adjourned till Sept. 19.
In an e-mail despatched Tuesday, MacDonald stated he would talk about the report with that committee. “Out of respect for the process, I won’t be commenting further at this time.”
MacDonald has been a senator since he was appointed on the recommendation of former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2009.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
