By Peter Berton
OTTAWA, Canada – What does a Canadian senator do when he’s suspended from his government post and needs to make a living? If he’s Senator Patrick Brazeau, he gets an honest job at a strip club.
Brazeau has been hired as day manager of the BareFax Gentlemen’s Club, just a few minutes’ walk from his former place of employment on Parliament Hill. A spokeswoman for the club said Brazeau’s strong communication and people skills landed him the job. He works the day shift Tuesday through Friday, managing about 25 employees.
Located in Ottawa’s historic Byward Market, BareFax is one of Ottawa’s better strip clubs. Brazeau will serve a three-month probationary period just like any other new employee, the spokeswoman said.
The BareFax gig is Brazeau’s second post-Parliament job. After accounting irregularities caused his indictment on breach of trust and fraud charges in November, Brazeau and two colleagues were expelled from the Senate without pay. Thereafter, Brazeau briefly worked as a columnist for the satirical publication Frank magazine. Frank editor Andrew Douglas fired Brazeau after his first column, subsequently apologizing to readers for allowing the former senator’s “narcissistic ramblings” to receive ink.
Had Brazeau’s indictment not created a scandal, he would not have needed a new job … ever. Unlike in the U.S., Canadian senators are appointed, not elected, and they serve until age 75. With a rich paycheck, generous expense accounts and a fat pension to boot, a Canadian Senate seat is the ultimate pay-off for faithful party hacks and cronies.
Before his appointment to the Senate, the 39-year-old Brazeau, who is Algonquin, served as national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and was known to be a close ally of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Appointing Brazeau supposedly gave Harper cachet with Canadian native peoples.
In addition to the fraud and breach of trust charges, Brazeau also faces charges of domestic and sexual assault arising from an incident earlier this month.
