Senate suspension aftermath sheds light on the upper chamber’s blunders

The way the Conservative Party leadership in the Senate has handled the suspensions of Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau has been one major cluster f#$% -- or as some my media colleagues have dubbed it, a "cluster-Duff."

Put aside the debate — for the time being — on whether or not the Senators deserved "due process" -- frankly I don't think most Canadians 'give a damn' about "due process" for individuals who became well-paid Senators at the whim of the Prime Minister.

But it appears that the powers that be in the red chamber have been making things up as they go along.

Take the senators' pensions as an example.

As explained by CBC News, Senators are eligible to retire with a pension after six years in office. Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau have only served five years.

So, will the next year — while they're suspended — count towards their six years in office?

No one seems to know.

Earlier this week, the Conservative Party's leader in the Senate, Claude Carignan, said he is seeking "legal advice" about the pension issue. On Thursday, Treasury Board President Tony Clement reversed a statement from his own officials who claimed "the period of suspension counts as pensionable service."

Shouldn't these issues have been decided upon prior to the suspension motion being introduced in the Senate? They had four months to figure that out over the summer.

[ Related: Suspended senators will accrue pension eligibility while banished, Senate says ]

Then there's the issue of the Patrick Brazeau and the $48,745 he still owes Canadian taxpayers.

Unlike Wallin and Duffy (er...Nigel Wright), Brazeau has not yet repaid his share of inappropriate expense claims so the Senate was going to garnish his wages for the next two years.

But now he's suspended and doesn't earn any wages. So how is the Senate going to recoup their money?

Don't ask Carignan — according to the National Post, he directed all questions about Brazeau’s repayment to the Senate’s administration.

James Cowan, the Liberal leader in the Senate is perplexed as the rest of us should be.

"Senator Carignan, who has the entire federal bureaucracy at his disposal, should be able to answer this question," he said, according to the Post.

“(Carignan) is the one who introduced these motions and amended them to include benefits without consulting anyone on our side. He then proceeded to ram them through the Senate without allowing for a committee process to evaluate their full consequences."

Cowan is right — this is amateur hour.

And remember, Carignan is the Senator who allegedly offered Patrick Brazeau a 'side deal' in the midst of the Senate debate to oust the Senators.

This is the government's leader in the Senate hand chosen by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

[ Related: Opposition MPs compare Stephen Harper to Richard Nixon ]

And finally there's the issue of Senate staffers who are now without work because of the suspensions.

According to iPolitics, seven staffers are now without jobs: on Wednesday morning they were asked to turn-in their Blackberries, building passes and keys. And while the Senators will keep their medical benefits, the staffers lose theirs after December 31st.

That doesn't sound very fair — does it?

This has been a comedy of errors by the 'distinguished' Canadians that are supposed to be our sober second thought.

Most Canadians wanted Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau suspended from the upper chamber — that's what the polls indicated.

But the whole process has shed a light on the Senate and its characters — and boy it's not a pretty sight.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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