The day after all that

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 1:16 PM - 39 Comments

The Star reports that atop one of the proposals submitted by Green Power Corporation were the words “From Rahim.” Two businessmen who met with Mr. Jaffer say he was presented to them and presented himself as someone with access to government (and they provide the CBC with the MP business card they say Mr. Jaffer gave them). Nazim Gillani’s spokesman says Mr. Gillani thought Mr. Jaffer worked in “government relations.”

And Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi, chair of the government operations committee, passes on a letter, reprinted below, that she has directed to Transport Minister John Baird, after Mr. Baird sent an unsolicited package to her last evening. Continue…

Today in things that unite everyone in disappointment

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 11:50 PM - 15 Comments

Here, again, is what I saw when I wasn’t covering my eyes with my hands. And here is how the Canadian Press, Star, Sun, Globe, CBC and Canwest saw it.

The Globe details some of the projects Mr. Jaffer’s company pursued with the government. CTV reports that one of the proposals was related to Green Rite Solutions, which is the sales arm of Wright Tech Systems, which is both the company Ms. Guergis wrote about in a letter to a her cousin, at the time a Simcoe municipal official, and the company that was reportedly the subject of a dinner attended by Nazim Gillani and Mr. Jaffer. Oh, and Wright Tech’s website features a government of Canada logo, apparently much to the confusion of Treasury Board officials.

The Commons: ‘I’m sorry if there’s been any confusion’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 7:38 PM - 51 Comments

The Scene. The Prime Minister seemed in a rather foul mood. Perhaps he was disappointed in himself. Perhaps he was merely upset with just about everyone around him.

With the first opportunity in Question Period, Michael Ignatieff stood and demanded the Prime Minister apologize, on behalf of the government, for a Conservative backbencher’s press release that likened the nation’s police chiefs to cult leaders and accused them of corruption.

“Will he condemn these disgraceful remarks?” the Liberal leader wondered.

Stephen Harper would not. He would instead note that the backbencher had apologized, that the assistant who had put those words in the backbencher’s mouth had resigned and that, anyway, the real problem here was the Liberal leader’s position on the gun registry.

Mr. Ignatieff came back with an accusatory finger, demanding the Prime Minister answer the question. And so here came the Prime Minister, yelling and pointing and carrying on. “Of course we all agree with that apology,” he offered of his backbencher’s retraction, “and we accept that apology.” And then he again turned on the Liberal leader, upon whom said backbencher had wished metaphorical violence. Continue…

As to the study of renewable energy projects funded by the government

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 2:10 PM - 12 Comments

Today’s meeting of the government operations and estimates committee commences at 3:30pm. Two witnesses are scheduled to testify, one of them someone by the name of Rahim Jaffer. No doubt a very informative and nuanced discussion of environmental policy and government subsidization will ensue.

If you should be so interested in such matters, the meeting will be televised online, the relevant links found here under the section marked “Meeting 11.”

There will probably be some degree of breathless play-by-play on the “Twitter.” And I, given my long-standing and oft-stated interest in the economics and public policy of renewable energy, will be by sometime after with a sober and reasoned sketch of the proceedings.

The Commons: Finally, a straight answer

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 6:11 PM - 17 Comments

The Scene. Mark Holland walked out into the foyer and, surrounded by cameras, gamely tried to explain that he was not particularly interested in the cocaine and hookers, that this was about much more fundamental matters of governance and accountability. A short while later, Libby Davies, in sandals, strode out and, surrounded by microphones, attempted to parse the difference between the Conflict of Interest Code and the Conflict of Interest Act. The assembled reporters gamely pretended to be interested.

Alas, Day whatever-this-is of whatever we’re calling this crisis (“The Gaffer Affair” seems both a tidy and au courant moniker) passed without much more in the way of insight. Which is perhaps precisely the problem. Continue…

This afternoon in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 1:55 PM - 3 Comments

Though reported last night to have decided not to proceed with an investigation of Ms. Guergis, the ethics commissioner is now said to be looking into Ms. Guergis’ affairs. Mr. Snowdy, the private investigator, is back from the Bahamas to talk to the RCMP. The RCMP is so far undecided on pursuing a formal investigation. And Liberal MP Marcel Proulx is thinking about calling Ms. Guergis to testify at the procedure and House affairs committee to explain why Mr. Jaffer was using one of her office e-mail addresses and Blackberries.

Tonight in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 19, 2010 at 11:43 PM - 30 Comments

The ethics commissioner decides, for the second time, that she won’t investigate. An attempt by Pat Martin to change the schedule of the government operations committee so that Mr. Jaffer wouldn’t have to testify on Wednesday appears to have failed, at least for the moment, either because Mr. Martin was filibustered by Liberal committee members or because Mr. Martin’s motion violates House rules. Mr. Jaffer’s business partner says he and Mr. Jaffer want to testify, while Mr. Jaffer’s lawyer says “nothing will happen” on Wednesday and Mr. Martin pleads for decency and substance in our politics. Oh, and for the record, Ms. Guergis was not technically a cabinet minister. (Unless she was.)

The Commons: The meaning of courage

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 19, 2010 at 5:41 PM - 30 Comments

The Scene. Michael Ignatieff had barely so much as said the words “Mr. Jaffer” aloud then a great moan rose from the government side.

This first intervention was fairly perfunctory. And, in response, John Baird stood and said as little as possible. Not until his second query, stumbling a bit with whatever he had prepared, did Mr. Ignatieff arrive at a point—something that might be taken away from not just these past few weeks, but perhaps these past few years.

“When the Prime Minister gets information he likes, he calls it credible. When he gets information he does not like, he attacks the witness. When he gets information from a private detective, he listens. When he gets credible information from Richard Colvin, a reputable diplomat, he attacks the witness,” the Liberal leader stammered. “How can we trust the Prime Minister’s judgment when he puts his political interests ahead of the public interests in every case?”

Mr. Baird stood here and jabbed his finger and punched the air and spoke emphatically about unrelated matters. Mr. Ignatieff tried again, this time en francais. For a third time Mr. Baird rose, this time to quite helpfully make the point the Liberal leader had been trying to make. Continue…

This afternoon in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 19, 2010 at 4:02 PM - 8 Comments

Mr. Jaffer’s business partner says he and Mr. Jaffer are ready to appear before a parliamentary committee and they’re thinking of taking legal action against Michael Ignatieff. Though having recently sought those committee proceedings, the NDP decides it would rather not proceed.

What’s really behind Helena Guergis’s fall

By Andrew Coyne - Monday, April 19, 2010 at 10:15 AM - 117 Comments

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

Until recently I had not properly grasped what was behind the spectacular fall from grace of Helena Guergis, the former minister of state for the status of women. I had thought perhaps it had something to do with her equally spectacular underperformance in the role, coupled with her penchant for embarrassing the government at regular intervals, either in her own right (hello, P.E.I.!) or with the help of the prolific letter-writers on her staff—and, at the very end, her husband, Rahim Jaffer, and his dodgy business associates.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. As wiser heads than mine have explained, it’s because she’s a woman. As the Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt observed, “it isn’t easy to be a female cabinet minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.” After noting the difficulties encountered by Rona Ambrose, Lisa Raitt and Diane Ablonczy—all still in cabinet, mind, notwithstanding their womanhood—she turned to the hapless Maxime Bernier, the only previous minister to be turfed from cabinet, though unlike Guergis, not from caucus. “A case,” Delacourt asked, “of different discipline for different genders?”

Maybe. Or maybe it’s because he was not suspected of having committed a crime. All we can know with certainty is that, unlike a man in the same position, the female politician who comes under criticism, on whatever grounds, can always rely on the support of a well-rehearsed chorus shouting “sexism.” Mind you, sometimes it takes some work. After failing to coax former B.C. finance minister Carole Taylor into joining the refrain (“I think she was treated the way we would treat a guy that did such foolish things”), the Globe’s Jane Taber found a women’s shelter director from Alberta to insist Guergis was an “awesome minister” who had done many good deeds, like funding women’s shelters. The moral of the story? “It’s pretty hard to be a woman in politics today.”

Continue…

The last 72 hours in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 19, 2010 at 10:14 AM - 25 Comments

The private investigator tells his side of the story to the CBC and Globe. Mr. Ignatieff questions Mr. Harper’s judgment. Mr. Jaffer will appear before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. The Hill Times ventures that Ms. Guergis’ political reputation may forever be damaged.

Mid-afternoon in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, April 16, 2010 at 3:40 PM - 70 Comments

Dominic LeBlanc says the government didn’t act fast enough to guard the cabinet. The Globe tries to sort out exactly what the ethics commissioner was asked or told. Libby Davies formally asks the ethics commission to investigate. Mark Holland formally asks the lobbying commissioner to investigate. Mr. Gillani’s spokesman talks to the CBC. Doug Bell notes that spokesman is also a dog photographer. Alison Crawford notes the difference between “credible” and “serious and credible” allegations. The Prime Minister of New Zealand surmises that salaciousness is universal. Mr. Jaffer is scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee next week. And the Ontario Provincial Police union wants to know why the charges against Mr. Jaffer were dropped.

The eternal search for logic and consistency

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, April 16, 2010 at 2:16 PM - 34 Comments

From QP this morning, Wayne Easter attempts to put two and two together. Or connect the dots. Or whatever the appropriate phrase is here.

Mr. Speaker, Richard Colvin is a diplomat with 20 years of distinguished service to Canada. He remains a high-level employee of the government in perhaps our most important foreign mission, the embassy in Washington. When Mr. Colvin and others raised serious allegations, the government said he was not credible. However, when the Prime Minister got second-hand information from Mr. Gillani, known as Big Daddy G, the government fired the Status of Women minister, booted her from caucus and called in the police. Why the hypocritical double standard?

How Helena Guergis went, so quickly, from promise to pariah

By Aaron Wherry with Chris Sorensen - Friday, April 16, 2010 at 10:00 AM - 49 Comments

Sean Kilpatrick / CP

As Parliament resumed on Monday, seat No. 46 in the House of Commons—the spot immediately visible to television viewers over Stephen Harper’s right shoulder when the Prime Minister rises to speak—was no longer assigned to Helena Guergis, the photogenic Conservative for Simcoe-Grey. The former minister of state for the status of women had been officially banished to seat No. 153, a spot about as far as one can get from the Prime Minister without leaving the House. In her place sat Denis Lebel, the generally unremarkable minister of state for economic development in Quebec.

“She was one of the breakthrough MPs in 2004,” says Tim Powers, a Conservative strategist. “Remember the history of the Conservative party. The argument was: when the party was united we’d win more seats, we’d win more seats in areas like her riding. She won a seat, she was a loyal performer for the Prime Minister, she was hard-working, at least it appeared in the early days. Certainly, she fit a demographic and gender profile that accelerated her chances of getting into cabinet. So she had some opportunities and she took advantage of them, until she lost sight of who she was.”

Seven months after her husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, was charged with drunk driving and drug possession, Guergis is now the subject of allegations serious enough to be referred to the RCMP. Whenever she next appears in the House, she will sit as an unwanted independent MP, unceremoniously ostracized from her party. And whatever else comes of the charges against her, she would seem now to personify the very antithesis of everything Conservatives hope to represent. “I think they truly became, in that old Reform term, ‘Ottawashed,’ ” Powers says of Jaffer and Guergis. “That they were given a lot of opportunities at a young age and they believed they were somewhat invincible.”

Continue…

Tonight in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, April 16, 2010 at 12:10 AM - 35 Comments

Ms. Guergis and Mr. Jaffer visited Belize in 2008. Ms. Guergis encouraged her cousin, a Simcoe politician, to consider a company connected to Mr. Gillani and Mr. Jaffer. Canadian Press investigates Ms. Guergis’ club-going days. The private investigator whose allegations led to Ms. Guergis’ exit from caucus has liabilities totalling $13-million. A friend says the PI is a “skillful” investigator. Mr. Gillani’s spokesman says Mr. Gillani did not boast of having pictures of Mr. Jaffer and Ms. Guergis partying with cocaine and prostitutes, nor does he possess any pictures of Mr. Jaffer and Ms. Guergis partying with cocaine and prostitutes. And Gilles Duceppe visits Edmonton and makes a joke about Mr. Jaffer.

'We are not saying very much'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 1:04 PM - 15 Comments

I asked Mr. Gillani’s spokesman, Brian Kilgore, if Mr. Gillani had any comment on last night’s report from CTV. Here is the response.

You probably know Nazim Gillani has been “invited” by a Hourse of Commons committee to appear before it on April 28.

This idea of House of Commons committees is new to us — Nazim is a business man, not a politician — and so we are treating this, at least for the next few days, as being similar to the idea of  a matter being “before the courts” and thus we are not saying very much.

Remember, the CTV report said others had said Nazim spoke about various things, and CTV was clear in saying there was no confirmation that pictures actually existed, or other items in the allegations were true.

Even local radio in Toronto this morning was careful to include phrasing saying there was no confirmation of the story about any (alleged) photos.

And our position is that with the court proceding on the 21st and the House of Commons committee on the 28th that we should not say anything because of the before the courts / Parliament restrictions.

Nearing midday in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 11:22 AM - 45 Comments

The Star adds a Belizean tax haven to the allegations. Ms. Guergis’ lawyer issues a statement denying the allegations with vigour. And CTV is apparently reporting that the private investigator first offered to tell the Liberals.

Mailbag: Hookers, Busty Hookers and Also Hookers

By Scott Feschuk - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 11:08 AM - 20 Comments

Welcome to the Mailbag, where I’m disappointed in all of you: not even one single question about Larry King’s pending seventh divorce and allegations that he may have been doing it with his wife’s younger sister? What is wrong with you people?

King, seen here playing the lead in the nursing home production of Happy Days: Still Sitting On It After All These Years, reportedly got into a real barnburner of an argument with his future ex, leading both to file for divorce. That’s fun to imagine but let’s be honest: after six divorces. could Larry really still have his heart in a good, old-fashioned domestic blowup? Would such a thing even get his attention?

Shawn: You son of a bitch – are you sleeping with my sister?!

Larry: Huh?

Shawn: How could you, Larry? HOW COULD YOU??!

Larry [fiddles with his suspenders]: Nic Cage – what’s he like to work with?

Shawn: What are you talking— I’m leaving you, Larry. You’re a sick, sick man and I’m going to take you for every goddamn penny!

Larry: Your calls for Ross Perot, right after this.

On to the mailbag. The following queries were actually submitted by actual readers. And remember: there are no stupid questions, unless you’re Rahim Jaffer and you’re asking whether I can give you a lift downtown.

•••

Dear Scott:

Hate to dwell on this story, but any tips on how Rahim can “Stay Classy” at this point? More importantly, any advice on how he might hang on to his wife? – MaggiesFarmboy

MaggiesFarmboy –

Why are people apologizing for Continue…

Tonight in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 12:39 AM - 49 Comments

CTV gets the private investigator’s side of the story.

Helena Guergis, the former minister of state for the status of women, was expelled from caucus and is being investigated by RCMP over allegations of partying with cocaine and prostitutes, CTV News has learned. Private investigator Derek Snowdy says Guergis lost her Tory post after he informed a Conservative Party lawyer of those allegations, CTV’s Robert Fife reported Wednesday night.

Snowdy had been conducting a 19-month probe into the affairs of Nazim Gillani and his business partner, former CFL player Mike Mihelic, when he learned of purported illicit behaviour by Guergis and her husband, former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer … Gilliani boasted that he had cellphone photos of Guergis and Jaffer “partying” with cocaine and high-priced hookers, Snowdy said … It has not been confirmed that Gillani said those comments or that he had the cellphone photos, but it was those allegations that caused Harper to act.

The government operations committee has called Mr. Jaffer and Ms. Guergis to testify during hearings into federal funding for renewable energy. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty cites “missteps” in Mr. Jaffer’s case. Ontario Provincial Police chief Julian Fantino commends the work of his officers on that case.

This early evening in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 5:36 PM - 23 Comments

Ms. Guergis has retained Mr. Jaffer’s lawyer. Mr. Rubel says the Prime Minister’s Office has not informed him or his client about the “serious allegations” in questions. The Prime Minister’s Office says Ms. Guergis was told on Friday. Mr. Rubel maintains he and his client have not been so enlightened. And, finally, the following artist’s interpretation of the alleged private investigator’s alleged involvement in this matter has been released.

The Commons: Made for television

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 5:34 PM - 48 Comments

The Scene. The Prime Minister must surely appreciate Michael Ignatieff’s concern for the good reputation of this government.

“Mr. Speaker,” Mr. Ignatieff lamented this afternoon, “by letting the rumours swirl the cloud over the government continues.”

Indeed. Though it was quite sunny and warm here today, a metaphorical cloud has descended on the capital—a swirling mess that can now be said to include references to a private investigator, blackmail, drugs and compromising photos taken in strip clubs. All or none of which may ultimately be proved to have anything to do with anything.

Mr. Ignatieff attempted to put this in some kind of context.

“There is a pattern here. When Parliament gets in the Prime Minister’s way, he shuts it down. When MPs ask for documents, he blacks them all out. When ordinary citizens ask for access to information, he turns them down. When Parliament asks a simple question, why did he fire a minister, he will not even deign to answer,” he said. “There is a pattern of arrogance here.”

The government side laughed, as, well, an arrogant bunch might be expected to react.

“When will it stop?” the Liberal leader pleaded. Continue…

'Completely ridiculous'

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 12:18 PM - 7 Comments

Ms. Guergis dismisses last night’s CTV report in an e-mail to the Canadian Press. In a longer statement, she laments that it is difficult to respond to innuendo.

Tonight in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:25 PM - 81 Comments

Ms. Guergis says Mr. Jaffer didn’t use her office for personal business. The Liberals allege Mr. Jaffer may have violated the Lobbying Act. Ms. Guergis says Mr. Jaffer isn’t a lobbyist. Mr. Jaffer’s business partner says the business is in shambles. Sources tell CBC that police mistakes led to Mr. Jaffer’s plea deal. And now there is this from CTV.

The mysterious third party who uncovered serious allegations that led Prime Minister Stephen Harper to toss MP Helena Guergis out of caucus is a private investigator, CTV News has learned.

Police sources say the licensed private eye contacted a Conservative Party lawyer in Toronto, and expressed concern about a potential threat of blackmail arising from allegations about the purchase and use of drugs. It has not been confirmed who may have purchased or used the drugs in question, or who may have been prone to blackmail.

The Commons: In other news

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 6:52 PM - 46 Comments

The Scene. When all of this is past, and Helena Guergis has either been redeemed or forgotten or both, various members of this government might send her a polite note of thanks. Peter MacKay in particular.

If not for Ms. Guergis’s unfortunate spring, it might very well be much worse for the government side. If not for the opposition’s eagerness to chase the mystery of Ms. Guergis’s misdeeds—rightly or wrongly, justifiably or not—the questions would be far more profound and far less easily dismissed. As it is, every question asked about who may or may not have alleged what she may or may not have done and why we may or may not ever know about any of it, is a question that does not involve the phrases “torture” and “Asadullah Khalid” and “Afghanistan.”

Indeed, every question about the affairs of the former minister of state for the status of women is one less opportunity for Peter MacKay to stand up and say something silly. And for this we are all surely the poorer. Continue…