Debate has begun in the Senate over a government move to suspend three senators over their allegedly improper living and travel expense claims.
Sen. Claude Carignan, government leader in the Senate, has moved that former Conservative colleagues Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau be suspended, without pay.
A number of Conservative and Liberal senators are resisting the move, saying it amounts to finding the trio guilty before they've been charged or convicted of any crime.
And Duffy and Wallin have threatened to challenge the move in court.
But Carignan says the Senate has already concluded that the trio broke the rules for claiming housing allowances and travel expenses and that the three have themselves recognized this by agreeing to reimburse the chamber for the invalid claims.
A vote on the suspension motions is not expected today; Carignan says Conservative senators will be allowed to vote as they see fit.
