Honourable senators, I rise on a question of privilege.

Honourable senators, in March of this year, I received a request from the Senate Ethics Officer to provide information relating to an inquiry involving a former senator. I was interviewed by the Senate Ethics Officer and an official of his office. The interview itself was conducted in an accusatory manner.

I was asked to provide notes and correspondence during my term as Government Whip in the Senate. I searched my records, including files, emails and journals, and provided copies of all relevant information which I found.

On Thursday of last week, I received information, which I considered reliable at the time, that the Senate Ethics Officer had recently attempted to access and search my emails without my knowledge or consent. Naturally, I wanted to confirm this before bringing it to the attention of the Senate.

I have just now received confirmation that this has actually happened.

The information suggests that some assistance may have been provided by the administration of the Senate and the attempt may have been successful.

To be clear, if the Senate Ethics Officer or any department or office of government had requested access to my emails for any legitimate purpose, I would have been pleased to accommodate such a request. However, it is totally unacceptable that anyone should attempt to access the emails of any senator without that senator’s knowledge or consent.

I believe this should be a matter of serious concern to all senators and to all people who communicate with us, including individual Canadians, organizations and the press.

I therefore ask that the Senate Ethics Officer immediately issue a public statement to either deny that any attempt was made to access my emails, or acknowledge that he did so and provide the names of all those who are aware or were involved.

I also ask for a full investigation into this matter, independent of the Senate Ethics Officer and the administration of the Senate, as they may have been involved.

Honourable senators, I’m not the subject of the inquiry and I have nothing to hide. I also hope this is true of the Senate Ethics Officer and the Senate administration. Only a full, independent investigation will establish whether this is true.