Senator Pamela Wallin.   You will never break my spirit
Channel: landlogger
Date: 2013-10-24

www.Peoplestandup.ca

"You will never break my spirit".
Senator Pamela Wallin says she was a loyal Conservative stabbed in the back to please the party faithful,
Pamela Wallin attacks fellow senators in emotional speech
Embattled senator tells colleagues, 'You will never break my spirit'

Pamela Wallin finally got her say on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, and used the podium to take some shots at fellow senators.

The Senate, after a lengthy debate, adjourned before a vote could be taken to suspend her, as well as Senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau, without pay.

Addressing the motion that would also cut her office use and benefits, Wallin pointed out that losing health benefits would be "a troubling prospect for a cancer survivor." Read the text of Wallin's statement

Wallin continued, saying she suspects Government Senate Leader Claude Carignan is taking orders from the Prime Minister's Office in the interests of appeasing public opinion that would like to abolish the Senate.

"The government, through Senator Carignan, has truly put the cart before the horse — the sentencing before the trial," she said.

Wallin, although her speech was not nearly as politically volatile as Duffy's a day earlier, didn't hesitate to name senators she considers betrayed her. Her voice shaking at times, she claimed she is the victim of 14 specific targeted leaks, which she thinks came mainly from senators Carolyn Stewart Olsen and David Tkachuk.

She said Stewart Olsen and Senator Marjory LeBreton could not bear the fact she is outspoken, or was critical of their leadership, adding, "They resented that — me being an activist senator." Stewart Olsen, Wallin said, "had her sights trained on me from the beginning."
'Backroom politics of the most odious kind'

Saying the proceedings against her are "backroom politics of the most odious kind," Wallin pointed out LeBreton had attacked her personally in a long speech in the Senate that terminated with LeBreton saying of Wallin, "This narcissism is the crux of the situation before us."

Wallin related that LeBreton and the prime minister's current chief of staff, Ray Novak, phoned her on on the Friday of the May long weekend, ordering her to resign, assuring her that this was the express wish of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"I was told again they were speaking for the prime minister, he wanted me gone," Wallin said.
Wallin continued, saying she negotiated an agreement with LeBreton and Novak, allowing her to tell the media she was voluntarily "recusing" herself from the Senate. Within 10 minutes, she said, LeBreton broke the deal, telling reporters Wallin had been asked to resign.
LeBreton rose as soon as Wallin was done, saying Wallin was in fact, a friend, and that she'd had only one dispute with her, not about her expenses, but to do with the Senate defence committee.

LeBreton may have been referring to a defence committee desire to study the issue of harassment within the RCMP, a move Wallin, as chair of the committee, strongly resisted.
Just before Wednesday's sitting, Stewart Olsen resigned from the Senate internal economy committee, saying she needs a change. She did not respond to Wallin's accusations.
Wallin ended her speech dramatically, saying "They hoped all this would force me to resign. But despite the clear, vindictive intent of this motion, you will never break my spirit."
Wallin's speech followed the explosive tirade Duffy let loose Tuesday as he aimed accusations not just at the Prime Minister's Office and some former Senate colleagues, but at Stephen Harper himself.