Controversial senator Don Meredith expelled from Conservative caucus

OTTAWA - A controversial Conservative senator has been expelled from his party's caucus following allegations in a published report that he was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl.

An official in the Prime Minister's Office says Sen. Don Meredith is no longer a member of the Tory caucus.

News of Meredith's expulsion came shortly after the Toronto Star posted a report online saying that a woman claims to have had a sexual relationship with Meredith that began shortly after she turned 16.

The Star report said the woman, who is now 18, had sexually explicit online chats with Meredith and that the relationship progressed to kissing and touching before she turned 18.

She also says the pair had intercourse twice after she turned 18 before Meredith broke off the relationship earlier this year.

The woman says Meredith initially believed her to be 18, but that she told him her true age within six weeks of the pair's first meeting at a Black History Month event at a church in Ottawa.

The Star story says that in Canada, the age of consent for sexual relations is 16, except in cases of a relationship of authority, trust or dependency, when it increases to 18.

According to the Star, Meredith — who was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2010 — has not responded to direct allegations that he had an improper sexual relationship with a person under the age of 18.

At one point, when contacted on the phone, the Star said he told the newspaper he was in a meeting and hung up. Meredith did not immediately respond to calls and messages from The Canadian Press.

He was already the subject of a special review by the upper chamber as a result of a high level of staff turnover in his office.

A CTV News report earlier this month said Meredith is facing allegations from staff members of verbal abuse, sexual harassment and bullying, and has been subject to what the Senate calls a workplace assessment since February.

Meredith is the fourth Conservative senator to leave the party's caucus in the last 18 months as the upper chamber continues to deal Harper a splitting political headache.

In February 2013, Sen. Patrick Brazeau was kicked out after he was arrested and charged with assault and domestic assault in connection with an altercation in Gatineau, Que.

Sen. Mike Duffy, who is currently standing trial on 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, left under a cloud of scandal over housing and travel expenses that persists to this day.

Sen. Pamela Wallin recused herself from caucus shortly after Duffy's departure amid similar controversy over her travel expenses.

Two years prior to being named to the Senate, Meredith ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in a 2008 byelection in the riding of Toronto Centre.

His time in the upper chamber has not been without controversy.

In 2012, Meredith landed in trouble with members of his own caucus for appearing at a Persian cultural event at Ottawa City Hall co-organized by the Iranian embassy. The Prime Minister's Office distanced itself from Meredith after the event, saying Meredith wasn't there representing the government, which has taken a hard line against Iran.

Last year, Meredith repaid the Senate for a trip he and his wife took to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. The annual event draws some 3,000 politicians and diplomats, including the U.S. president.

Meredith also landed in hot water for referring to himself as "Dr. Don Meredith" in press releases, despite the fact his doctorate came from a institution that didn't have degree-granting abilities.