Senators call on Don Meredith to resign in wake of sex allegations

OTTAWA - The battered Senate absorbed yet another body blow Thursday as published allegations that Sen. Don Meredith was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl were referred to the Senate ethics officer.

Meredith now faces calls for his resignation from senators of both political stripes.

Senate Speaker Leo Housakos said he has referred the matter to the ethics officer, calling the alleged conduct described in a bombshell report in the Toronto Star "incompatible with the position of senator."

In his letter to ethics officer Lyse Ricard, Housakos writes that if the allegations prove true, they would constitute "conduct unbecoming of a senator" that would require "disciplinary sanctions." He alleges Meredith "may have improperly used his position of trust and authority as a senator."

"I find this sort of (alleged) behaviour disturbing, unacceptable and intolerable and I hope that the ethics commissioner will come back in an expeditious fashion," Housakos said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"As Speaker of the Senate of Canada I'm called upon to explain things. Certain things are inexplicable and this kind of behaviour is inexplicable."  (more...)

Senators call on Don Meredith to resign in wake of sex allegations

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