OTTAWA — Former Senator Raymond Lavigne rose from humble beginnings as a delivery-man’s son to one of the loftiest jobs in the country.
But once entrusted with helping make Canada’s laws, the disgraced former Liberal is now facing jail time for breaking them.
Lavigne was sentenced Thursday to six months in jail and six months of house arrest for fraud and breach of trust.
He arrived in court in a dark suit, telling the audience and the judge before his punishment was handed down: “I am not guilty. ... The process wasn’t fair or just.”
But 45 minutes later he was trading his dapper duds for a simple T-shirt, muttering again under his breath that justice had not been done.
His wife sobbed as she packed away the finery of their previous life.
Lavigne, 65, said he plans to appeal both the sentence and the conviction, though on his way into court he was brandishing a bag and said he was ready to go to jail.
His lawyers hope to see him released while the appeal process wends its way through the courts.
“I’ve been doing this work for 20 years in the interest of justice,” said Lavigne’s lawyer Dominic St-Laurent.
“When we decide to file an appeal, it’s because we consider justice wasn’t done.”
Lavigne was also ordered to donate $10,000 to charity — approximately the amount he was convicted of defrauding the public.
The one-time Liberal MP was convicted of fraud in March for claiming travel expenses for trips actually taken by his staffers.
He was convicted of breach of trust for having his staff do work on his personal farm while on taxpayer time.
He was acquitted on a third charge of obstruction of justice.
“It is unacceptable for a person in an important public position to behave this way,” said Judge Robert Smith in handing down the sentence.
Lavigne had faced a maximum 14 years in prison but the Crown asked for a sentence of 12 to 15 months.
At his sentencing hearing, prosecutors cited Lavigne’s lack of remorse, his repeated transgressions and the motivation of financial gain as aggravating factors.
But Lavigne’s lawyer argued the public humiliation he faced as a result of the charges, and the fact he repaid the cost of having the staff do work on his property, should soften the blow.
His lawyer also drew upon Lavigne’s upbringing in “extreme poverty” as one of 14 children of a bread-delivery man in Montreal.
But the judge said his modest upbringing was no excuse, noting many people of similar backgrounds do not go on to commit crimes.
“It does not excuse the fraud,” he said.
Lavigne was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by then-prime minister Jean Chretien.
He resigned his seat 10 days after he was convicted, trading in his $132,000 annual salary for a parliamentary pension that could hit $79,000 a year.
Lavigne’s hearing came as the current Senate finds itself in the spotlight.
There’s an ongoing fight over Senate-reform laws and two Conservative senators face electoral financing charges.
Lavigne’s case is another example of why the Senate needs fixing, said critics.
“This is one of those things that will undermine even more Canadians’ acceptance that we have an institution like the Senate,” said Opposition Leader Jack Layton.
“We’ve got senators up on accusations regarding election-law violations, chief fundraisers for the Conservatives. I mean what’s going on here? This is supposed to be a respected democratic place but yet we have an institution that’s increasingly in disrespect and completely undemocratic.”