Former Alberta Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer has pleaded guilty to careless driving.
In agreeing to the plea, the Crown withdrew initial charges of possession of cocaine and excessive blood alcohol while driving.
Crown attorney Marie Balogh told the court the initial charges were dropped because there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
The judge, Mr. Justice Doug Maund said he could read “between the lines” of the evidence presented to him.
“I’m sure you can recognize a break when you see one” the judge told Mr. Jaffer.
The former MP was sentenced to a $500 fine. He had already agreed to make a $500 charitable donation to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“I’m sorry. I know this was a serious matter,” Mr. Jaffer said afterward outside the court. “I know I should have been more careful and I took full responsibility for my careless driving.”
[More]
From the Calgary Herald article
“Jaffer’s lawyer, Howard Rubel, said his client was never in any possession of drugs and did not drive under the influence.”
His lawyer is not saying the charges were simply dropped, he is saying the were baseless.
Either there was cocaine or there was not, and either he blew over .08 or he did not.
Something does not add up.
And all this time we thought the Harper government was going to get tough on crime & punishment except when it comes to one of his (former) own.
.
And on the left side, it will be interesting to see if Ontario’s former liberal Attorney General Michael Bryant gets off on his traffic charge of killing a cyclist with his vehicle.
Friends in high places eh.
UV I agree, that if Jaffer was drunk and was caught with coke while speeding through town, that it would appear that he recieved a form of justice that would not be available to you or me.
But the fact that his lawyer is now saying that there was no coke and his client was not impaired, – if this is true the story changes.
Either there was coke or there wasn’t. I’d like to know so I know which party to be suitably outraged at.
The cops for making stuff up, or whomever is responsible for trying to flush this down the memory hole by rewriting history.
I just cannot believe the arrogance of political power, deep pockets for unethical lawyers who study and practice law only to drive trucks thorugh loopholes to benefit their own deep pockets and our legal system that accepts plea bargains. We teach our kids to follow model citizens/leaders and to do the RIGHT thing. Rahim, his wife and his backers just don’t get it.
How this man (and that’s an exaggeration) can now look any Canadian or voter who supported him in the past in the eye going forward is beyond me. I sure hope his efforts in the Green Power Generation Corporation fall on tough times. He should be dumped by the Corporation and by his wife.
We expect and get better model from average soldiers than from elected or former elected officials.
Ward — Certainly doesnt speak well of the Caledon OPP Officer who must have screwed up the original charge(s).
Having previously resided in the Caledon area, can honestly say that the OPP detachment there had a good record of charges and successful convictions
Something smells and would be interesting to hear the officers side of this story but that could mean his dismissal or at the very least, transferred to some isolated post in Northern Ontario,
Reading the comments and the story itself I think everyone will agree this situation was a very bad call and will, in due course, be reviewed by the proper authorities in the days ahead and charges possibly relaid (from what I’m getting the Crown left that option open).
Let’s wait for it.
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Heres something I came across on the internet regarding this plea bargaining case.
‘Judge in Jaffer case a long time Tory’
Ontario Justice Doug Maund who handed former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer a $500 fine for careless driving, was chief of staff to former Brian Mulroney Cabinet Minister Perrin Beatty. He was appointed to the bench in October 2000 by then Attorney General, now federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
This case is really starting to stink of bad politics.
UV have you ever experienced the legal system? The Tory judge was presented with an arranged deal. The Tory judge did not engage in making the deal. If there is anyone to blame look at the crown prosecuter who in Ontario might well be a Liberal supporter.
I truly don’t like the political class getting preferred treatment no matter the stripe and would dearly love to see Chretien hauled before the courts charged with theft.
I dont know much about our confusing legal system but couldnt that alleged Tory Judge have said ‘No deal?’
What kind of message does that send out to the public especially since the PM is supposed to be concerned about law & order issues plus must be terribly frustrating to the OPP officer who obviously put a lot of work into this case and probably ran it past his Supervisor.
Who appointed Marie Balogh as Crown Prosecutor? We know the Judge was appointed by then Ontario AG Jim Flaherty.
Actually UV it would be highly unususal for a judge overturn a pre-arranged deal. The judge did not overturn the Homolka deal. If judges actually started overturning such deals then no deal would ever be made and it is likely that our legal system would screech to a halt.
Regardless of what you think, this has nothing to do with PM Harper. It doesn’t even reflect on him except for those who would impugn his reputation no matter what he did or didn’t do. If you think that a sitting PM would endanger his government ‘rescuing’ a former MP over drunk driving/drug possession charges then you are delusional. Unless Jaffer has naked pictures of Harper, which Jaffer is threatening to release, there is no upside for Harper in even trying to help Jaffer.
The only question that should be asked is, “Was there any attempt by the crown prosecuter to curry political favour by cutting a soft deal for Jaffer?”. I doubt it very much and once again I believe it is the political class judging themselves by a different standard than they judge the rest of us.
UV, how can you justify smearing the entire Conservative Party based on the actions of a single former MP? By that logic, the entire Liberal caucus should be arrested for the sponsorship scandal.
If the Conservatives started defending Jaffer, you might have a leg to stand on. Such was not the case and will not be the case.
UV – So what are the political affiliations of the OPP officer and his supervisor??
You can look under the bed ad nauseum but fail totally to impugn the guilty. Perhaps the officer was just attempting to fill out his monthly quota and decided to do it with flair. Recall the officer in Britain that allegedly gave a driver a ticket worth approximately $100 Cdn and 3 points on his licence for blowing his nose while in the drivers seat! This same officer gave a person a fine for littering for accidentally dropping a 10 pound note on the ground.
There are criminals everywhere!!!!
CRB
This is a joke. Old school ways, protect your own even if he endangers the public!
Orangeville Crown Attorney Marie Balogh didn’t just sell out all Canadian citizens in cutting a deal with Jaffer’s lawyer, she cut a deal for herself. The deal could not have happened without collusion within the office of the crown. Watch Marie Balogh carefully, as her present tenure in a modest little courthouse, will, once the dust has settled, rise to some unmerited appointment and boost in socio-political status. She is feathering her own nest. Meanwhile police and RCMP are struggling to keep a level playing field for all citizens and this underhanded opportunist is picking and choosing which case will benefit her social climbing. Shame on you Ms. Balogh.