rahim jaffer

Rahim Jaffer has no influence with Prime Minister, official says

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Fri, 04/09/2010 - 4:22pm
Jane Taber , Globe and Mail
 
Conservatives are furious with political power couple Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer after yet more revelations that question their behaviour and judgment, including suggestions Mr. Jaffer was telling business associates he still had sway with the Prime Minister.
 
“People who have worked very hard for the Conservatives are livid at the disrespect shown by the Jaffer-Guergis duo to the public and the party they are supposed to care about,” a senior Conservative strategist told The Globe.

Vic Toews blames media for Rahim Jaffer 'smear job'

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:42pm
Jane Taber, Globe and Mail
 
Stephen Harper’s senior Manitoba minister has launched a public attack on a journalist from his province over her reporting of the Rahim Jaffer affair, calling it a “smear job.”
 
In an angry letter, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews accuses Winnipeg Free Press reporter Mia Rabson, the only Manitoba reporter covering Parliament Hill, of advancing the “Liberal spin.”
 
Mr. Toews writes that Ms. Rabson “regularly engages” in “conspiracy theory” stories “because they don’t involve a lot of thought or work.”
 
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Former Harper aide says Jaffer should apologize

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:37pm
Tonda MacCharles, The Star
 
OTTAWA – Most of Rahim Jaffer’s Conservative caucus colleagues dashed, squirmed, or told reporters to ask Ontario’s Crown why their former national caucus chair got a “break” – as the judge called it—from prosecution on drunk driving and cocaine possession charges.
 
But Kory Teneycke, a former spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said Jaffer is the one who owes the public an explanation and an apology.
 
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Jaffer case draws fire from John Howard Society

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:16pm
The head of the John Howard Society says Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case.

Craig Jones says Nicholson should apply lessons from the case to the Conservative criminal justice agenda.

Jones says the Jaffer case shows how mandatory minimum sentences don't work, because they take away discretion from judges to find proportionality in the justice system.

Jaffer is a former senior Conservative MP in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He walked out of an Ontario courtroom yesterday after drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped against him. In return, Jaffer pleaded guilty to a careless driving charge.

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Tories bristle when asked to explain Rahim Jaffer's 'slap on the wrist'

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 4:16pm
By. Jane Taber, Globe and Mail

Stephen Harper’s tough-on-crime Conservatives were accused of being not-so-tough when it comes to one of their own today during a particularly nasty Question Period today.

Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville raised the issue of the $500 fine given to former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer after he pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving earlier today. Her questions – and accusations – touched off a firestorm in the Commons.

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Former Conservative MP Dodges Cocaine, Drunk Driving Charges

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 4:06pm
By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News

Drunk driving and drug possession charges were dropped against former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer in court Tuesday, but he pleaded guilty to a lesser offence of careless driving.

Jaffer, 38, was ordered to pay a $500 fine within a month. He also donated $500 to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, his lawyer said.

An agreed statement of fact read by Crown lawyer Marie Balogh said that last Sept. 10, an Ontario Provincial Police constable clocked Jaffer driving 93 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h speed zone in Palgrave, northwest of Toronto.

The village is in the southern Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey held by his wife, federal Tory cabinet minister Helena Guergis.

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Tories should take Jaffer lesson to heart, dump minimum sentences: experts

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 3:46pm
By Bruce Cheadle (CP)
 
OTTAWA — Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case and apply its lessons to the Conservative criminal justice agenda, the head of the John Howard Society said Tuesday.
 
"It's really easy to disparage discretion for judges - until you need it," Craig Jones told The Canadian Press in an interview.
 
Jaffer, a former senior Conservative MP in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, walked out of a courtroom in Orangeville, Ont., after drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped in return for a plea bargain on a careless driving charge.
 
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