Senator Patrick Brazeau calls journalist a bitch after she reports his poor attendance record
OTTAWA — The youngest senator in the upper chamber also has the poorest attendance record for this session of Parliament and now it appears he could also have worst manners when it comes to speaking to female reporters on Twitter.
After an earlier version of this report was filed by Jennifer Ditchburn of The Canadian Press, Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau took to social media to voice his displeasure with the story, though he has subsequently aplogized.
Brazeau, 37, was absent for 25% of the 72 sittings between June 2011 and April 2012, the Senate attendance register shows.
By the end of that period, the Quebecer who came to prominence after being defeated by Liberal MP Justin Trudeau in a charity boxing match, was four days away from being fined. Senators are allowed to miss up to 21 days in each parliamentary session, without explanation. After that, they can be fined $250 for each day missed.
The records for May and June have not been submitted yet.
“The very simple answer to your question with respect to my attendance or lack thereof is for personal matters,” said Brazeau, former national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.
He did not elaborate, but later posted a message on Twitter directed to this reporter: “while u smile Jen, others suffer. Change the D to a B in your last name and we’re even! Don’t mean it but needs saying.”
Brazeau then followed this by getting into a heated twitter exchange with Postmedia reporter Stephen Maher.
@jenditchburn while u smile Jen, others suffer. Change the D to a B in your last name and we're even! Don't mean it but needs saying.
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
@TheBrazman I would also note that I called your office twice and exchanged emails prior to this story being published.
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Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012
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Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012
@TheBrazman Dear Senator: Many a person has made fun of my name and he word "Bitch". But never a Canadian senator. That's a first.
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Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012
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Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012
@jenditchburn perhaps we should even take the time to sit down and chat to get facts before publishing one-sided stories. I'm open.
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
@TheBrazman How was this story one-sided? I called your office twice, asked you questions via email, and pubilshed your response verbatim.
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Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012
Brazeau wasn’t just missing from the Senate floor. Between June 2011 and April 2012, he also missed 65% of meetings at the aboriginal peoples committee on which he sits.—
Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012
He has subsequently apologized for his twitter outburst
@jenditchburn I apologize for my comments. They were done because of my personal circumstance regarding your story. (1/2)
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
@jenditchburn (2/2) I'm a hardworker and take my position seriously but personal issues always comes 1st. Ppl are sometimes in need. Sorry!
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SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
He was away for 31% of the meetings of the human rights committee, where he is deputy-chair.—
SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) June 26, 2012
The senator, appointed in 2008 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sent an email response to a request for comment.
Brazeau was very visible in the media in late March in the lead in to the televised charity boxing match. He was favoured to win, but lost the fight in a technical knockout.
NDP MP Charlie Angus said Brazeau is the “latest poster boy” for a democratically challenged institution.
“It’s surprising that he shows up at all,” said Angus. “He’s got a gig for life. There’s no accountability, there’s no censure, he’s going to sit there until he’s 75.”
The NDP supports abolishing the Senate.
Other senators who top the absentee list are Liberal Romeo Dallaire and Conservative Janis Johnson. Both senators say they have good reasons for their absences.
Dallaire’s records show he is six absentee days away from being fined, having missed 22 per cent of the Senate sittings.
The author and retired army lieutenant-general said he has a lot of public engagements and also spent three-and-a-half weeks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic continuing his research on child soldiers.
“I took that time, as much as I could over Easter, but it ran over into Senate days,” Dallaire said in an interview.
Dallaire missed 17 per cent of meetings on both the national security and defence committee and the subcommittee on veterans affairs. Minutes show Dallaire also wasn’t present for two of the five meetings of the special anti-terrorism committee.
Johnson was missing from the Senate floor 19 per cent of the time. She is eight days away from being penalized financially.
Johnson emphasizes that she has had a good attendance record during her 22 years in the Senate. The Winnipeg resident says she is the sole caregiver for a terminally ill aunt. She added that she was ill during the winter and her office failed to note that in the register.
She also notes she is the co-chair of the Canada-United States Inter-parliamentary Group.
“I pride myself in doing my job and I work really hard in the province as well…I take it very seriously,” she said.
Johnson missed two-thirds of the meetings of the energy, environment and natural resources committee. She says was directed to sit on the committee against her wishes, by Sen. Marjory LeBreton, the government leader in the Senate.
“What happened is they were in the middle of a report or coming to the end of a report that I had nothing to do with,” Johnson said of her appointment to the committee last June.
“I asked the leadership not to put me there, but (Sen. LeBreton) said, please just stay there.”
Johnson’s record was better for the foreign affairs committee, but she was still absent 24 per cent of the time.
Many senators got to April with perfect attendance. They included Conservatives Con Di Nino and Jacques Demers and Liberals Jim Munson and Percy Downe.
During the last parliamentary session, Liberal Sen. Nick Sibbeston was listed as having been absent one day more than the 21 leave days he’s entitled to. It is unclear whether he was fined.
Poor attendance was more of an issue a decade ago, when a handful of senators missed vast amounts of sittings.
Liberal Andrew Thompson resigned in 1998 after the Ottawa Citizen revealed he only attended about five per cent of sittings over more than a decade.
Senator Patrick Brazeau calls Jennifer Ditchburn a bitch after she reports his attendance record | News | National Post
