This remarkable exchange just occurred in the Senate. This is my transcription; the official Hansard may be slightly different.
Sen. Patrick Brazeau: At approximately 10:20 a.m. this morning, I was outside the Chamber in the back. The Leader of the Government in the Senate (Carignan) took me aside. I’ll be very careful about my words here but I was essentially offered a backroom deal and the backroom deal was that if I stood in this chamber, apologized to Canadians and took responsibility for my actions, that my punishment would be lesser than what has been proposed in the Leader of the Government in the Senate’s (Carignan’s) motion. I’m going to try to use Parliamentary language — but I’m very disturbed at this . . .
Sen. Claude Carignan (speaking in French and so this translation to English is via the official Senate translators who are translating in real-time):
“…I spoke to him out of friendship in saying, Senator Brazeau, please suggest something. Apologize. Perhaps a lighter sanction. Something that we can come up with to try to find the right balance. I did that in confidence and frankly I did so in an attempt to help him. I regret that he perceived that as an attack. I’m not sure how I would have reacted in that situation myself were I in his place. Perhaps I had too strong of an urge to help him.
Never before have so many people been paying attention to the Senate Hansard 🙂
Sounds like a better backroom deal than the backroom deal the Board of Internal Economy handed him.
This entire affair involving all three senators is nothing less than theatrics that has been produced and directed by the Conservative government. These three senators don’t much care about their work and are paid actors to push senate reform to the front of the stage. This is a “created crisis” so that Canadians will demand senate reform or abolition.
IN my opinion, WHATEVER IT TAKES to gain senate reform after many years of talk and hollow promises, GO FOR IT!
I hope Harper is raked over the coals at the convention, I had uncles
killed over seas to save us from a dictator
like him.
These 3 senators are guilty & they will attempt anything to preserve their gold plated ‘jobs’? and lavish lifestyles. Outside of the public service these ***** would have been fired long ago!
P.M. Harper is totally correct & wants these senators to be dealt with by their peers & what do we get, smoke & mirrors from this unelected senate!
Call for closure then suspend them & have criminal charges laid by the RCMP.
Our P.M. is attempting to clear this type of senator OUT & we sorely need Harper’s leadership to accomplish it.
These three Senators were “Appointed” by Harper and at least two used their positions to campaign for the Conservative Government of Harper during the previous election.
“Place of Sober thought” has always been a monstrous costly expense to the Canadian taxpayers and many feel it is nothing more than “patronage and control” orchestrated by successive Prime Ministers.
Its about time the Canadian people “Took Back” Canada from the Corporate politicians who are aiding in the tightening grasp of Corporate Canada.
Back room deal? Beyond suggesting that Brazeau should take responsibility for ripping off the Canadian Taxpayer , there was not even an indication of what the lesser penalty would be.
The back room deal is all in the mind of Brazeau, who knows he can continue to embarrass the Senate and the Government , by continuing to insist he did no wrong , and only has taken his entitlement.