Suspended Sen. Patrick Brazeau lands gig as Hill reporter

Once he so loathed the media that he angrily lashed out on Twitter against a journalist who reported on his poor Senate attendance record.

But it seems losing a steady paycheque after getting booted from the upper chamber does wonders for one's view of the fourth estate.

Welcome to the club, Patrick Brazeau.

The suspended senator has found work as a freelance reporter for the Halifax edition of Frank Magazine, despite having no prior journalism experience and a track record of Twitter trouble.

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There's also the matter of his impending trial over charges of assault and sexual assault.

Brazeau openly solicited work on Twitter after he and fellow senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin were suspended in early November over their questionable expense claims.

The satire and gossip magazine not to be confused with the entirely distinct Ottawa version of the same name announced its newest hire Monday.

"Listen, here's the deal: Frank Magazine exists, to paraphrase a famous quote, to comfort the afflicted, and be a pain (in) the arse to the comfortable," managing editor Andrew Douglas wrote on the magazine's website.

"And who could possibly be a bigger pain in the arse to, I dunno, just throwin' out some names here, Senators (Marjory) LeBreton, (David) Tkachuk and (Carolyn) Stewart Olsen than their former colleague, Patrick Brazeau? Can't you just picture it?"

Seeking press gallery accreditation

Brazeau was scheduled to drop off his application for accreditation to the parliamentary press gallery Monday afternoon.

It will then fall to the press gallery's board of directors to decide whether or not to accredit Brazeau. If it does, he will be granted a pass that allows him to roam freely through some of the corridors of the parliamentary precinct.

In hiring Brazeau, Frank is getting a controversial figure.

Earlier this year, he was arrested in Gatineau, Que., and charged with assault and sexual assault. That led to Brazeau being kicked out of the Conservative caucus. His next court date is in mid-February.

In March 2012, he lost a charity boxing match to Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and, as a stipulation of the bout, ended up having much of his long hair cut off under the glare of TV cameras.

Sometimes, he lets his thumbs get ahead of his brain. In June 2012, he apologized after rhyming a Canadian Press reporter's name with a derogatory word on Twitter after she reported on his poor Senate attendance record.

Earlier this month, the Senate voted to suspend him over the expense issue.

The suspension which lets Brazeau keep his health, dental and life insurance benefits is to last for the rest of the parliamentary session, which could continue for the next two years.

So what's a suspended senator to do?

Brazeau made his intentions clear last week with a series of tweets that revealed he wanted a media job, is writing a book and is open to starring in a reality show as long as it pays in which he tries a different job every week, a nod to the old Canadian TV series "The Littlest Hobo."