For Helena Guergis, the minister for the status of women, it has been downhill since her hubby, former MP Rahim Jaffer, was nailed for drunk driving and caught with some coke by OPP last October.[briefbreak]
We know now, thanks for a Star investigation by Kevin Donovan, that Jaffer was out partying that night with a suspicious character with a penchant for busty hookers who also happened to be the focus of a $1.5 million wire fraud investigation out west.
You know what they say about the company you keep.
Now it appears Guergis may be implicated in her husband’s business dealings.
The RCMP have been called in to investigate by the PMO, which suggests criminal wrongdoing.
It’s unclear what the nature of the alleged criminal wrongdoing may be. Expect the speculation to run rampant.
But it’s pretty clear the charges are serious, otherwise Guergis would have been allowed to remain in caucus. Instead, she has been kicked to the curb, thrown not only out of the cabinet, but caucus as well. She now sits officially as an independent in the House.
All of which may put the now infamous temper tantrum at the Charlottetown airport all those weeks ago in some context.
Chances are Guergis knew her world was closing in on her. That the Star was sniffing around not only the events leading to her husband’s arrest on drunk driving charges, but his business dealings as well.
Seems obvious that the Jaffer-Guergis match made seemingly in political heaven is tearing apart at the seams.
I mean, what kind of respect is Jaffer showing his wife of barely two years, a minster of the Crown, by reportedly cavorting at strip clubs, and with shady business types no less?
He’s either remarkably arrogant, drunk with power (being elected at 25 can do that to you), or just plain stupid.
Big question is: what did the PM know and when did he know it?
It seems both improbable and incomprehensible that Jaffer’s wheeling and dealing was unknown to the PMO.
Until the Star story broke, Jaffer was making liberal use of his wife’s Ottawa office and Conservative party logo on the website pushing his green business and connections to the government. Presumably, he was engaged in business with his former friends.
Even if the PMO didn’t have intimate knowledge of Jaffer’s comings and goings, which seems unlikely in the cozy confines of Ottawa, you’d think Harper’s squeaky clean crew would have shut whatever doors were open to the former Tory star when his drunk driving travails broke all those months ago.
Harper’s no fool. He’s shown himself quick to toss political liabilities overboard, his closest friends included, when its suited him. See Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber. What took so long with Guergis?
After the airport tantrum, there was the staffers posing as everyday citizens to write supportive letters to the local press on behalf of the embattled minister. There was also the not-so-small matter of a complaint to the ethics commissioner about the purchase of Guergis’s $880,000 Ottawa home, reportedly without a down payment.
Worse still for the PMO, it could be that the RCMP probe into Guergis’s affairs have nothing to do with the allegations swirling around her husband and his questionable biz associates. There could be more explosive charges floating around out there.
Judging by what we know so far, this was one big crash and burn waiting to happen.[rssbreak]
