Wallin says she will fight attempt to suspend her

The Prime Minister is keeping busy with European free trade and whatever else he can find to do. Meantime, the Senate fiasco grinds on with plans by the Conservatives to suspend  three senators over inappropriate expense claims. Government motions to suspend Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, all former Conservatives appointed by Harper, will be discussed in the coming week. If approved, the action would stop their pay, benefits and Senate resources for the rest of the parliamentary session, potentially as long as two years. Senator Wallin is threatening a legal battle if the plans continue. Her lawyer calls it an affront to Canadian democracy. The Senate motions are set to be debated next week. Wallin’s lawyer, Terrence O’Sullivan says there is nothing in the audits or the resulting  Senate reports that make any mention of gross negligence. O’Sullivan says the Senate’s own rules and the constitution require due process, something he says Wallin has been never afforded during a series of in-camera hearings. Meanwhile, Mike Duffy has gone on medical lave from the Senate on the advice of his doctor, he says.  Duffy’s health has been conditional for a long time. He has had heart surgery. The huge balloon of the former Ottawa correspondent for CTV and the CBC was inflated in the shadow of Parliament in July.