Former Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber, who now sits as an independent, was in the Senate gallery to watch part of the proceedings. A trained lawyer, Rathgeber said afterward that he was “very, very troubled” by efforts to pass judgment on the three senators without a fair trial. “It’s so unCanadian,” he said. “There’s no ability for them to confront their accusers or examine the evidence or cross-examine.” In one unexpected take on the issue, Sen. George Baker, a senior Liberal, told reporters that passing the motions would be, in effect, a court sentence because the Senate is a quasi-judicial body. He argued that passing the suspensions would thus foil ongoing police investigations of the three senators. He said it would also mean Harper and his office couldn’t be called to testify in the event of a trial. “You can’t be convicted twice – double jeopardy,” Baker said. “Legally speaking, brilliant move by the lawyers (at PMO) to get them off the hook.”
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 23:38:12 +0000
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