APTN National News
OTTAWA–During an emotional speech that could be his last in the Red Chamber, embattled Sen. Patrick Brazeau said he was “not a thief, a scammer, a drunken Indian, a drug addict, a failed experiment or a human tragedy.”
Once described as potential federal Conservative leadership candidate, Brazeau now faces suspension without pay from the Senate for the remainder of the Parliamentary session. The Prime Minister Stephen Harper-backed motion to have Brazeau and Senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin suspended is scheduled for a vote Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Brazeau, however, believes he is the victim of “sensationalist, misleading, tabloid-style” reporting and racism within the Conservative party.
“You’re not going to throw this Indian under the bus or else you better have big spokes,” said Brazeau, in a speech delivered late Monday night.
Brazeau’s case is different than Duffy and Wallin in that he was expelled from the Conservative caucus after he was charged by Gatineau police for assault and sexual assault against a woman. His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day.
Brazeau also became embroiled in controversy over his housing allowance and expense claims. The Algonquin Senator listed his father’s house in Maniwaki, Que., as his primary residence despite spending most of his time in a rented house in Gatineau.
Brazeau says he didn’t break any rules because the rules are vague, as pointed out by an independent audit.
“It is incomprehensible to me that the Senate of Canada does not care that their policies have been found by an independent audit to be so inadequate as to be completely useless, yet I stand here on trial now,” said Brazeau. ”
Brazeau said he has been found to have only $144 in questionable expenses.
He told the Senate that his suspension without pay would also hurt his children, including one with special needs.
“I am about to be suspended without pay, which will severely affect my children, including my special needs child and my family,” said Brazeau.
Brazeau also apologized to those same children.
“You are too young to understand what is going on here. I am much older than you and I barely understand. It is very important that you understand that I am not guilty of what some of these people are accusing me of,” he said. “It is very important that you know that I am not a thief, a scammer, a drunken Indian, a drug addict, a failed experiment or a human tragedy…Your father is a man who took things at face value, who maybe didn’t question things never…I was trying to follow the rules but, somewhere along the way, something went wrong and I’m here for it know and I don’t understand why…We will get through this. I love you.”
Former Conservative government leader in the Senate Marjory LeBreton called Brazeau an “experiment gone wrong” in a recent interview with Global News.
Brazeau said in a CBC television interview last week that LeBreton doesn’t like Aboriginal people.
“Some honourable Senators will gossip anonymously to the media, casting themselves as saviors out to save a supposedly drunken, drug-addicted Indian, while at the same time appearing before TV cameras and crowing about how disgusted they are with my behaviour regarding my housing claims,” said Brazeau. “This is an interesting way to care for a friend.”
Before his legal and expense troubles, Brazeau was one of the more partisan Senators, aggressively defending the Conservative agenda on First Nations issues. Brazeau attacked and mocked Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence during her Idle No More fast on Victoria Island held between December 2012 and last January.
Brazeau only began to publicly change his view on calling a national inquiry to examine the high number of murdered and missing Indigenous women last fall. He wrote a song dedicated to the missing and posted it on YouTube.
According to a police document filed in court, Brazeau assaulted a woman in the same house where he recorded the song.
The police document alleges that during the February assault, Brazeau grabbed the woman’s breasts and pulled her pants down hard enough to break a button and a zipper. He allegedly shoved the woman hard enough to break a staircase railing and spat in her face.
Brazeau also allegedly choked the woman.
The alleged assault was sparked by an argument over his handling of First Nation issues, the police document said.
Brazeau has pleaded not guilty.
He was initially placed on a leave of absence following the incident.
Harper appointed Brazeau to the Senate in 2008.
I find it very sad that one of our “Aboriginal Leaders’ would example or use such racist statements in proclaiming what he isn’t. It is one thing to reference one self as not being a drunk, but when a person references a race to a behaviour that is wrong on sooo many levels. Not all drunks are Indians. I honestly can’t see how a person as such could shed a light on Aboriginal Issues or concerns when they are racist of their own people themselves, which make me wonder what were in office for…yourself, because it certainly wasn’t for our people. Sad very sad.
My personal opinion of the actions of the Progressive Conservative government is exemplified, by this “experiment gone wrong”. Is there justification for a Political system that manifests hate. Not only through Policy and Legislation, but by action. True Leaders are those that carry themselves in way garners respect. True Leaders are not made but born. Greed, selfishness, and hate are not a qualities I wish, my children to revere.