Politically, the story is toxic. Former Conservative MP, husband of (currently embroiled) Conservative cabinet Minister, gets special treatment because of his status — that’s the line on the street and in every coffee shop in the country. Once again the story, almost immaculately in this case, fits the negative stereotype. Politicians have one set of rules, ordinary people another. Big people get the easy out, the little guy gets whacked on the head. The Jaffer story has the force of a parable. Like his wife’s it is emblematic. It confirms, as that most weary phrase has it, what “everybody knows.”And it cuts right to another core concept of the current administration. They have made law and order, toughening up on criminals, applying the law with its full force, a cardinal element in their appeal to Canadian voters. On a populist understanding, the outcome of Jaffer’s case turns that precisely upside down. One law for “them,” another for “us.”
Guergis, Jaffer at height of hypocrisy TheChronicleHerald.ca IT’S NO WONDER that many young people don’t pay attention to politics. It is a dreary parade of lumpy middle-aged people in suits reading misleading and evasive talking points to one another, projecting emotions they don’t feel as they defend their parties, attack other parties and attempt to attract the attention of tuned-out voters with dim-witted propaganda. Thank goodness, then, for Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer, the Tory poster couple for bad behaviour, for offering young people a bit of titillation this week. It has been pretty good theatre — a farce in two acts — wherein they behave badly, with no consequences to themselves beyond public scorn, and we all get to enjoy the spectacle. The Tories look like they are coddling a couple of spoiled brats, and they look like hypocrites. Much of the Tories’ electoral success was based on a simple-minded anti-crime message. They promise to get tough, and pass laws requiring mandatory sentences. They self-righteously and dishonestly bleat at the opposition for obstructing those bills, and then kill those bills by proroguing. The Jaffer case still points to the reality of our criminal justice system. A lot of people get light sentences because of plea bargains.Sad..
Jaffer and Guergis have done us all a favour for drawing attention to the limits of the Conservatives’ crime agenda. Their farcical support of it too.. When it came to appealing the light sentence given to one of their own the Conservatives shut up.
Conservative minister Helena Guergis, minister of state for the status of women, was recently forced to apologize for an angry outburst against airport and Air Canada staff in Charlottetown. She allegedly seethed at being put through airline procedures as she arrived minutes before a scheduled flight, calling the city a “hellhole” and uttering a profanity. Guergis is also dealing with the fallout from husband Rahim Jaffer’s careless-driving charge. Jaffer, a former Conservative MP, saw charges of impaired driving and drug possession dropped – a “break” in the words of the judge who heard his case.
This is the same new Political party that had promised to be good, different from all the others firstly but basically still are the same.
Too many Canadians consider the apparent incompetence, favouritism and indifference exhibited by the Crown in withdrawing the more serious charges, including impaired driving, laid against Jaffer as unacceptable. The former Reform and Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer gets a slap on the wrist. He received what even the judge in the case conceded was a “break”. Next the Law and order Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, federal Justice Minister, and the federal security minister are not demanding a retrial cause they are happy one of their own got off scott free? Considering Jaffer’s own tough-on-crime messages and the Conservative government’s dim view of lenient sentencing by judges, this all smells of real hypocrisy now to all..
The $500 fine given to former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer for careless driving by an Ontario judge on March 9, after he was initially charged with cocaine possession, impaired driving and speeding, hardly sends a message as a deterrent. This case raises the question, Can influence, money and a good lawyer sway the course of justice? Most Canadians will consider the penalty handed out to Jaffer to be unreasonable. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Jaffer+sentence+laws+jeopardy/2669583/story.html
Former Conservative MP Rahim Jafferwas stopped for speeding north of Toronto last September. Provincial police from the Caledon detachment arrested him after he admitted to having consumed two bottles of beer and he failed a breath test.Police laid three charges against Jaffer – possession of cocaine, drunk driving and speeding – for doing 90 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h zone. The advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving has written to Ontario’s attorney general, demanding to know why the drunk driving case against Jaffer fell apart. “It is critical that answers be provided as to why the case did not proceed with the original charges, given that the evidence appeared to warrant and support the charges,” wrote MADD Canada’s National President Margaret Miller in the letter. The NDP’s justice critic, Joe Comartin, said he wants both the provincial attorney general and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to explain to Canadians why very serious charges against Jaffer were dropped, because there’s a “perception” of a double-standard.
Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer pleaded guilty today in Orangeville, Ont., to careless driving. Charges of cocaine possession and drunk driving were withdrawn. Jaffer, who is married to junior federal cabinet minister Helena Guergis, was fined $500. Jaffer, 38, was arrested last Sept. 10 after police stopped him for speeding in Palgrave, Ont., north of Toronto. The judge said he hoped the former politician recognized the break he was getting. Jaffer was first elected as an Alberta Conservative MP in 1997 but lost in his riding in 2008.
Sadly this is a crappy judgment.. a poor ordinary fellow would get no breaks like this.. Our Conservative government law and order, accountability falsely does not apply to one of their own..
Judge gives former Tory MP $500 slap on wrist Toronto Star When he was re-elected in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named him chair of the Conservative caucus.
Tories bristle when asked to explain Rahim Jaffer’s ‘slap on the wrist’ Globe and Mail (blog)
Tories should take Jaffer lesson to heart, dump minimum sentences: experts The Canadian Press
Poor optics on Jaffer sentence Ottawa Citizen
