Canada’s Senate watchdog has yet to interview the young woman who says Sen. Don Meredith had a sexual relationship with her beginning when she was 16.

Two months ago, though nervous about the process, she offered to talk to Senate Ethics officer Lise Ricard.

“I came forward and said I can help with your investigation,” the woman told the Star in an interview. She reached out at the request of Senate leaders.

“The Senate investigators said they will get back to me and they never did.”

Meredith is facing a dual probe by the Senate: one over the allegations from the young woman, and another investigation related to workplace harassment.

A Toronto Star story in mid-June detailed allegations the woman, who is now 18, levelled against the senator. She told the Star in an interview that she met Meredith, who is also a Pentecostal pastor and married, at a church event.

According to her account, a relationship began with sexually explicit chats over Skype and Viber in which Meredith asked her to remove her top and underwear. She said he then masturbated on camera. The relationship progressed to physical intimacy, kissing and touching before the girl turned 18. Soon after she turned 18, the woman said, they had intercourse twice.

When the senator broke it off earlier this year, he told her in a text message that he did so because “God has spoken to me and am (sic) not happy with me . . . I should be leading you not making you.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper fired Meredith from the Conservative caucus on June 17 and Senate Speaker Leo Housakos gave interviews with media encouraging the young woman to co-operate in a probe.

“She can easily come forward and take part in this process that we are doing here internally at the Senate and we can ensure her confidentiality if that is what she wishes,” Housakos, a Conservative, told the Star’s Joanna Smith.

“What’s important for us is to get to the bottom of this issue. This is behaviour that we don’t condone at the Senate of Canada and this is behaviour that Canadians don’t condone in the workplace or anywhere across the country.”

A probe was launched and Ricard was put in charge.

Shortly after the woman contacted Ricard expressing a willingness to give an interview, Ricard sent her an email:

“Thank you for coming forward and voluntarily offering to meet with me,” Ricard wrote on June 23. “This matter is subject to a process that is set out in a code of conduct called the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code for Senators. We are just at the beginning of this process, but I will certainly be in touch with you in the future about this. Again, thank you for getting in touch with me and making yourself available.”

In an interview, the young woman said she has not heard from the Senate since.

“How can they investigate without me?”

A Senate spokesperson for Ricard would not discuss the case or explain why they have not interviewed the woman making the allegations. Louise Dalphy said they are following a process and “everything is proceeding as usual, in due course.”

The young woman speculated in her interview with the Star that the calling of the election has stalled the probe. Dalphy said their office is independent and “the elections have no impact on the mandate and work of the Office of the Senate Ethics Officer.”

Meanwhile, the young woman has also contacted victim services counselling in Ottawa and has been attending counselling sessions. She said she spoke to the Ottawa police but has not yet made a formal statement detailing her involvement with Meredith.

The Star placed calls and sent emails to Meredith and his lawyer, but they have yet to respond. Previously, the Star put the allegations of improper conduct to Meredith, but he did not respond to questions, and hung up when the Star called, saying he was in a meeting and too busy to talk.

The Senate is not in session and an assistant at his office said the Toronto-area senator is “back in his jurisdiction.”

Sen. Vernon White, former Ottawa police service chief, said he is disappointed that the Senate investigators have not spoken to the woman.

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“I am concerned that she has not already been interviewed. The importance of an early response in these cases is essential to a successful and thorough investigation. I know this is being taken seriously and would expect contact much sooner,” White said.

“In my experience, in criminal investigations, the direct contact and statement taking is essential for the trust of the victim as well as the investigation itself.”

White said he does not believe “there is anything political” in the delay in interviewing her.