Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer cleared by RCMP, but still not allowed to hang with the cool kids
Helena Guergis—remember her? The one-time rising Tory star and wife of then-hot-bod-in-caucus Rahim Jaffer? Despite allegations of unethical conduct, the media pretty much dropped her as front-page news, although not before elevating “busty hookers” to the lexicon of Canadian politics (now up there with “fuddle duddle” and “King-Byng”). That changed this morning with the news that Guergis and Jaffer have both been advised by the RCMP that they are no longer being investigated in ethics matters (to say nothing of the matter of busty hookers v. link-baiting Web writers).
The Globe and Mail reports:
The RCMP announced on Wednesday that it has closed its files on Ms. Guergis and Mr. Jaffer without laying charges, effectively clearing the Independent MP and her husband of allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
Still, the development did not put an end to the questions surrounding the judgment of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who forwarded vague and unsubstantiated allegations against the pair to the Mounties in April.
Even though she was cleared, Ms. Guergis will continue sitting as an Independent MP, and she will have to wage a major fight if she wants to run for the Conservative Party in the riding of Simcoe-Grey in the next election.
The Prime Minister’s Office sent an e-mail to supporters saying that Guergis’s being cleared would have no effect on her banishment, and that the Conservative caucus “holds its members to a high standard of conduct.” So, for the record: Leave sensitive government files in the apartment of your girlfriend, who was connected to biker gangs? You stay in the party. Get investigated on charges that never materialize into anything criminal? You’re out for good.
The whole Guergis-Jaffer affair is like a smaller, pettier version of this week’s other legal vindication—that of Conrad Black. His Lordship was convicted of serious crimes, but if the National Post headlines are any indication, his friends will welcome him back to the world with open arms. Guergis, meanwhile, lives in bizarro-land, where being a minor embarrassment to the Conservative Party gets you booted for life.
Unless Stephen Harper’s mom was an airport worker all her life, it just doesn’t make sense.
• RCMP closes files on Guergis and Jaffer [Globe and Mail]
• RCMP close investigation of Guergis and husband [Postmedia]
• Guergis, Jaffer exonerated by RCMP probe [Winnipeg Free Press]
• Ex-cabinet minister Guergis says cleared by police [Reuters]
• Helena Guergis cleared by RCMP [Toronto Star]
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[caption id="attachment_33618" align="alignleft" width="206" caption="Former power couple Rahim Jaffer and Helena Guergis (Images: parl.gc.ca)"] [/caption]
Helena Guergis—remember her? The one-time rising Tory star and wife of then-hot-bod-in-caucus Rahim Jaffer? Despite allegations of unethical conduct, the media pretty much dropped her as front-page news, although not before elevating “busty hookers” to the lexicon of Canadian politics (now up there with “fuddle duddle” and “King-Byng”). That changed this morning with the news that Guergis and Jaffer have both been advised by the RCMP that they are no longer being investigated in ethics matters (to say nothing of the matter of busty hookers v. link-baiting Web writers).
The Globe and Mail reports:
The RCMP announced on Wednesday that it has closed its files on Ms. Guergis and Mr. Jaffer without laying charges, effectively clearing the Independent MP and her husband of allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
Still, the development did not put an end to the questions surrounding the judgment of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who forwarded vague and unsubstantiated allegations against the pair to the Mounties in April.
Even though she was cleared, Ms. Guergis will continue sitting as an Independent MP, and she will have to wage a major fight if she wants to run for the Conservative Party in the riding of Simcoe-Grey in the next election.
The Prime Minister's Office sent an e-mail to supporters saying that Guergis's being cleared would have no effect on her banishment, and that the Conservative caucus “holds its members to a high standard of conduct.” So, for the record: Leave sensitive government files in the apartment of your girlfriend, who was connected to biker gangs? You stay in the party. Get investigated on charges that never materialize into anything criminal? You’re out for good.
The whole Guergis-Jaffer affair is like a smaller, pettier version of this week's other legal vindication—that of Conrad Black. His Lordship was convicted of serious crimes, but if the National Post headlines are any indication, his friends will welcome him back to the world with open arms. Guergis, meanwhile, lives in bizarro-land, where being a minor embarrassment to the Conservative Party gets you booted for life.
Unless Stephen Harper's mom was an airport worker all her life, it just doesn't make sense.
• RCMP closes files on Guergis and Jaffer [Globe and Mail]
• RCMP close investigation of Guergis and husband [Postmedia]
• Guergis, Jaffer exonerated by RCMP probe [Winnipeg Free Press]
• Ex-cabinet minister Guergis says cleared by police [Reuters]
• Helena Guergis cleared by RCMP [Toronto Star]){kind=link}