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?

Another Very Good Argument Against Bill C-15

The gentleman in this video raises some very important issues about the draconian Bill C-15, currently before the Senate.

As a professor he states that under this bill 80% of his students, university students; would be criminals. 10% could possibly get two years in prison.

The War on drugs cannot be won. There is just too much money, and the tougher the laws, the more potential there is for profit.

This is not who we are. There are so many places where these billions of dollars promised for super prisons and more policing, could be going. Homelessness, poverty, seniors, health care. Those are the issues important to Canadians, and not tackling them is the real crime.

We have got to wake up.

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?

Bill C-15 Should be Given the Respect it Deserves. Anyone Got a Match?

With so many other things going on, Bill C-15 is one thing that we cannot allow to be trivialized. And we certainly can't allow it to be passed.

With the economic crisis and this government's horrendous handling of our finances, this is something we should look at. Putting more people in jail is not going to solve the drug problem. And this is not a government who wants to put money into rehabilitation or the health issues of drug addiction.

They just want to pander to their base and charge us for it. Besides, Stockwell Day used to be a regular pot user, though I suppose he's not the best example for the cause.

So instead of throwing billions of dollars into building American style super prisons, it's time to call a truce on this damn war against drugs, where the only enemies become the police and a government that wants to marginalize it's citizens.

There is a group in the United States made up of police officers and clergy who agree.

I don't smoke pot, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that doing so should be a crime. Legalize it and decriminalize it. It's a no-brainer.

Harper's New Drug Law Bill C-15 is the Most un-Canadian Thing I've Seen Since Him

I can't believe this new drug strategy of the Harper Government. What is wrong with these guys? Clearly this is not an attempt at reducing drug crime, because it will do nothing to stop the criminal element.

Is it just to appease his 30% base of knuckle draggers who watch too much TV and believe there's a pusher on every schoolyard, and every street corner in the country?

The only way to remove drug crime is to put the criminals out of business. And the only way you can put the criminals out of business, is to legalize pot; tax it and regulate it, like they do alcohol and tobacco.

I feel like I'm in a bad episode of Dragnet, where they ignore the facts, only the facts.

According to the anti-drugs civil union:

Until now, Canada has not wholeheartedly subscribed to the “War on Drugs”. We pursued a more holistic approach which included treatment, enforcement, prevention and harm reduction - a “Four Pillars” approach, more like some of the successful European models. This was the case even in the most recent iteration of our drug strategy, completed about two years ago after extensive multi-sectoral and community input.

Harper’s government is taking a sharp turn away from this, however, and it will likely cost Canada dearly in terms of increased disease and ruined lives, not to mention its reputation in most parts of the world save the USA.

And all of these new arbitrary laws will only increase the prison population.

Bill C-15 could fill Canadian prisons with drug offenders
By Carlito Pablo
Will Bill C-15 kill the twin scourge of illegal drugs and gang violence?

“There’s a lot of information, both in the United States and in Canada, that shows that mandatory minimum sentencing regimes for drug offences are ineffective. This is all about window-dressing for the Conservatives’ crime agenda. They want to impress people with their tough-on-crime approach. One thing that will happen is that it could very much overcrowd our prisons. We find the bill to be misdirected and based on a very faulty premise. It’s based on the U.S.’s war on drugs, which has been a complete failure.” (Libby Davies NDP)

This country is moving backwards instead of forwards. It's going to take years to undo the damage this government has done to a once progressive and admired nation.

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?