04.22.2010 08:19 AM

Obligatory Jaffer-Guergis Post

Rahim isn’t running again; his name won’t be on a ballot for a long, long time – if ever. So, if you’re an Opposition MP, why spend so much time trying to tar and feather him?

To wit:

“Mr. Speaker, we know now that Rahim Jaffer didn’t disclose his lobbying activity, as the rules require. So why didn’t any of the many, many Conservative Ministers, staff and MPs he met with regularly report him to the relevant authorities, to ensure that the rules were being followed?”

That’s the question.

From the relevant web site:

“…all public office holders, including designated public office holders, [should] verify the registration status of an individual if they believe that he or she may be carrying out registrable activities. If there is no registration, they could choose to ask the individual if registration is required.”

Did any of them do that? Nope.

Why not?

12 Comments

  1. Tceh says:

    Slightly off topic but here is my vote for quote of the day:

    “Do you understand that your actions have tarnished the reputation of politicians of all parties?” Mr. Lukiwski asked. “Do you get that?”

    From this Lukiwski? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lukiwski#Videotape_controversy

    My opinion only but Tom Lukiwski has done his share to tarnish the reputation of politicians…

    Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/jaffers-company-pitched-projects-worth-850-million-to-ottawa-files-show/article1542654/

    • Jan says:

      For those of us who mourned the death of irony – it’s back baby!! It’s back on some sort of performance enhancing drug. My all time favourite is Jaffer accusing others of making accusations…and he said it with a straight face. This is Lawrence Olivier style acting.

  2. Reality.Bites says:

    Jaffer said yesterday before the committee, “I do want to state for the record that I have never partaken in any illegal substance. Nor have I ever endorsed this type of behaviour.”

    I don’t think it helps his credibility to say things no one will ever believe. The fact that charges were dropped do not mean he didn’t have cocaine in his possession. No statement was ever issued to the effect of “Oops, turns out it was talcum powder. Sorry for the mix up.”

    For various reasons a conviction could not be obtained and the charges were dropped. He still had cocaine in his posession. We know it. He knows it. It’s not even slightly in question. By making this laughable claim he merely demonstrates we have no reason to believe anything else he says either.

    • Jan says:

      This statement was the dumbest thing he said. He wasn’t actually asked if he had ever did cocaine. He was doing so much skirting I can’t believe he fell into this trap.Proof positive he’s an idiot.

  3. Bill says:

    It’s only occupying the center of Toronto. Anywhere outside of Toronto, this is a tact to the FAR left.

  4. Eugene Parks says:

    … the conservaties did not declare their activities because they saw an opportunity to eat from the public trough of billions, which they believe they are entitled to.

  5. Tceh says:

    I haven’t quite figured out what Jaffer was trying to achieve or with whom. From what the MSM has dug up so far it sounds like the idea was to create “green” companies partially funded by federal government renewable energy programs, then at some point in the future IPO the same companies in which Jaffer and possibly Guergis had partial ownership. Is that about right?

    There is nothing inherently wrong with this scheme had it the plan been executed via the proper channels and with a registered lobbyist. My question is would Jaffer be able to lobby legally so soon after being part of the Conservative Government? Is it possible to be a MP one day and a lobbyist the next? Also, if Guergis was part of the scheme as has been alleged there is a clear conflict of interest IMO. She cannot be part of the Conservative Government and participate in the above alleged scheme too. Other politicians have had to place business assets in a blind trust to ensure no benefit flowed from the Government position in which they were placed/elected.

    Much has been written about the level of control exercised by the PMO so I wonder why they were asleep at the switch in this case. Perhaps a hope by Harper that the entire Jaffer drunk driving and cocaine posession arrest + the Guergis airport meltdown would blow over and be forgotten and nobody would dig further. It’s nice to see the MSM in Canada is occasionally awake in Canada. In many cases it isn’t.

  6. Sandra says:

    I found it really hard to swallow – the Conservatives at the committee meeting being all so pure white as the snow, worrying about how Jaffer hurt the reputation of all MP’s when they’ve spent their every talking and ad moment trying to trash and demean and hurt reputations.

    What a “performance” by the all so innocent and goody Cons. Has Lewkiwski reached out to the gay community like he promised? Anyone know?

  7. Conan says:

    If jaffer represented himself as the creator of some concept that he was personally lobbying for then he does not have to register. This does not seem to be the case here as Jaffer is lobbying for other people. Sure there was no immediate paycheck for Jaffer to lobby but that is because there was a far more lucrative delayed compensation scheme in place, allegedly.

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