“Continued Actions of Senator Beyak Brought Senate into Disrepute” – Senator McCallum
OTTAWA — “The Senate has recently prided itself on its shift towards modernizing the way it conducts its business. A modern Senate is no place for racism to exist. My motion will hopefully give senators the opportunity to exercise their right to discipline one of our own for their misconduct, bringing with it a resolution to an on-going drama that has been a black eye on our esteemed Chamber,” Senator McCallum stated as the Senator brought forward a motion to expel embattled Senator Lynn Beyak from the Upper House of Canada’s Parliament.
In a statement to media, Senator McCallum: “Prior to prorogation in August 2020, the third report of the Standing Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators was being debated on the floor of the Senate. This report would have brought resolution for, and by, senators with regards to the ongoing matter surrounding their colleague, Senator Lynn Beyak. Instead, prorogation and its related effect of resetting the Order Paper removed this resolution process from the hands of senators and resulted in the quiet reinstatement of Senator Beyak as a full-fledged senator in good standing.
“The Senate holds a recognized privilege of disciplinary authority over its members, including the right to expel one of its members. If the Senate takes seriously their responsibility to oversee senators’ conduct and hold one another accountable when a senator misconducts themselves, the Senate is then duty-bound to complete the process that was ended prematurely with prorogation. Any less than this, or any delegation or deferral of this authority, is neither appropriate nor responsible.
“If it is believed that Senator Beyak has merited her return, she should be entitled to return to the Senate by a decision of her peers; not to simply return because the clock has run out on her suspension”.
“The continued actions of Senator Beyak have not only brought herself into disrepute but have brought the Senate as a whole into disrepute as well. Her actions are undeniably causing further unnecessary damage to the reputation of the Senate as an institution while also continuing to cause immeasurable and sustained pain for countless First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples,” continued Senator McCallum.
“The Senate is now seized with confronting a blatant example of institutional racism within our own House. The individual racism demonstrated by Senator Beyak in both her words and her actions has been elevated to an institutional level by the Senate operating in a way that enabled her escalating misconduct. This matter, at its core, is an egregious example of white privilege being exercised within existing colonial systems. The insidious nature of this white privilege is the blindness that it has created with respect to its very existence, as well as its influence across multiple levels of society, including the Senate of Canada. Senator Beyak’s actions have sown division in our society. By allowing her to remain in a position with the inherent title of ‘Honourable’ while such misdeeds have been appropriated is irresponsible and sets a poor example that is contrary to how Parliamentarians expect themselves and each other to act,” concluded Senator McCallum.
