Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain looks into the Main Hall at the Senate of Canada Building, formerly the Government Conference Centre, is shown in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Two members of the Independent Senators Group say police and Senate security are investigating a threat that forced one of them to leave her home last weekend, following a social-media post that blasted members of the upper chamber for their position on a carbon pricing bill for farmers.
Sen. Raymonde Saint-Germain rose on a point of privilege on Tuesday alleging that she and Sen. Bernadette Clement were intimidated and bullied by other senators in the chamber after Clement moved to adjourn debate on the bill on Nov. 9.
Clement says she and her staff were also subjected to a barrage of disturbing calls after a Conservative MP posted what she calls a “wanted” poster online with photos and phone numbers for herself and Sen. Chantal Petitclerc, encouraging people to call them to ask why they were shutting down debate on the bill.
Clement says one very angry man called and threatened to come to her home in Cornwall, Ont., which prompted her to leave after discussions with the Parliamentary Protective Service and police in Cornwall.
The private member’s bill from a Conservative MP calls for an exemption from carbon pricing for propane and natural gas used to dry grain and heat farm buildings, and Tories have been pushing hard for its final passage in the Senate.
A Conservative spokesman says Clement is a former Liberal candidate who is not really an independent senator, and said the social-media post was not a “wanted” poster.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2023.
