Did a Little Hanky Panky Keep Jaffer Out of the Tanky

Rahim Jaffer is a former Reform/Alliance MP and long time associate of Jason Kenney. He is also married to Helena Guergis, the woman who can barely tie her own shoes, blamed girls for their own rape and recently had a complete melt down on Prince Edward Island.

Yesterday Jaffer went to court to face charges of drunk driving and possession of cocaine.

To anyone else this might be a serious offense but the man got a slap on the wrist.

Jaffer court case sparks outrage across Canada

Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer's guilty verdict in an Ontario courtroom has ignited an outrage across Canada. Many are now questioning why the charges of cocaine possession and drunk driving were dropped in the case. Jaffer pleaded guilty to careless driving and received a $500 fine, and no criminal record.

However, David Akin thinks he may know why Mr. Jaffer got such a sweet deal.

Jaffer's former caucus colleagues immediately tried to distance themselves from the decision and the case. The line from all Conservative MPs, when asked, was that it was a provincial matter, that the prosecutor in the case was a provincial appointee. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews even went far enough to point out that it was a Liberal administration in Ontario responsible for the case.

Well, turns out the judge in the case, Doug Maund is a long-time Tory: When Brian Mulroney was prime minister, Maund was the chief of staff to Mulroney's health minister Perrin Beatty. He backed Kim Campbell in the leadership race to succeed Mulroney He was appointed to the Ontario bench in October, 2000 by the Ontario attorney general of the day, none other than current federal finance minister Jim Flaherty.

Nice to have friends in low places.

But before you think I'm blaming the judge, the deal was worked out with the Crown attorney, and the judge himself raised eyebrows, despite his links to Flaherty. However, the optics of this is not good.

Of course, the irony is that when Jaffer was running in Edmonton, he accused Jack Layton of being soft on drug crime. Some things never change.

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?