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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:46 pm Post subject: Rahim Jaffer gets slap on the wrist |
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This guy was a big anti-drug crusader:
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100309/edm_jaffer_verdict_100309/20100310/?hub=EdmontonHome
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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.
The 38-year-old was charged last September with cocaine possession and drunk driving after being stopped by police for speeding in Palgrave, Ont., located about 60 kilometres north of Toronto.
Jaffer spoke to media outside of court apologizing for the incident.
"I should have been more careful. I'm sorry. I know this is a serious matter," he said. "Once again I apologize for that and I take full responsibility for my careless driving."
But now, some are saying the former Edmonton-area MP received special consideration and got off easy after the more serious charges were withdrawn.
"You've got to wonder if it was a different situation, a different person -- maybe there wouldn't be the same outcome," said Gillian Phillips with MADD Canada's Edmonton and area chapter.
But even the judge's comments in the case added fuel to the list of theories of why the Crown withdrew the charges.
Judge Doug Maund, told Jaffer in court, "I'm sure you can recognize a break when you see one."
Jaffer's lawyer attempted to offer an explanation to media.
"The charges of driving over the legal limit and possession of any illegal substance has always been refuted and I think the withdrawal of those charges vindicates that refutation," said Howard Rubel.
Still, Jaffer has received little sympathy from those in his former riding in Strathcona.
"Probably the fine he got was due to the privilege because he was an MP and I don't think it's fair to the rest of us," said resident Phyllis Harlton.
Jaffer was MP for the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona before a surprise defeat to NDP's Linda Duncan in a 2008 election.
In 2008, Jaffer ran ads on a local radio station accusing Jack Layton and the NDP of supporting the legalization of marijuana. In the ad Jaffer said, "Edmontonians understand how difficult it is to make sure our children make the right choices especially on serious issues like drug use."
Jaffer faced another scandal back in 2001 when his executive assistant impersonated him in a national radio interview. The assistant resigned shortly after the interview and said his boss had no knowledge of the incident.
Jaffer's wife is Tory MP Helena Geurgis who represents the riding of Simcoe-Grey.
Jaffer has 30 days to pay the $500 fine. |
Drunk driving + careless driving + coke possession = 500$ and no criminal record.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/03/09/jaffer-case.html
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2661791 |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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Careless driving? That's reckless driving, right?
Does Canada also allow defendants to show up in court in their PJs? |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:01 am Post subject: |
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In the early 90s I was briefly a Reform party member. While that might sound like anathema to many on this board, the party was really a sort of libertarian - conservative hybrid that by American standards wasn't really all that libertarian or conservative. They eventually merged with the Conservatives and formed a party that would fit fine with a Clinton Democrat. That's just my take. That was a long time ago.
Anyway, Strathcona was my home and my riding and I remember Jaffer as being a little shifty, but the Reform party was very eager to promote people who weren't Anglo-Saxon, not to put too fine a point on it, into the leadership, and he climbed quickly. Now it's nice to see that getting a suspiciously light sentence is probably going to do him more harm if he tries to continue his political career and people remember such favoritism. Especially in Canada where you get arrested for driving after sniffing a beer cap. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:43 am Post subject: |
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We have seen this so many times: people grandstanding against some great moral evil are alter found to be engaging in it themselves!
Lots of projection going around. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:51 am Post subject: |
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| Does anyone happen to know why the more serious charges were withdrawn? I'm not a fan of Jaffer at all, but I HAVE to think that the Crown acted on something a tad more legitimate than "Well, he's a famous politician, so we should go easy on him." |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:08 am Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Does anyone happen to know why the more serious charges were withdrawn? I'm not a fan of Jaffer at all, but I HAVE to think that the Crown acted on something a tad more legitimate than "Well, he's a famous politician, so we should go easy on him." |
Yes. There must be something.
CBC:
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| Crown lawyer Marie Balogh said in court the other charges were dropped after a careful review of the case showed there were significant legal issues and no reasonable chance of conviction. She refused to elaborate outside of court. |
Though a DUI and holding coke is pretty clear, no? |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:55 am Post subject: |
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| Though a DUI and holding coke is pretty clear, no? |
Well, unless something procedurally improper went on, which would have made it in everyone's interest to drop the case. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:21 am Post subject: |
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Jaffer judge is a Tory
by DavidAkin on Tue 09 Mar 2010 04:40 PM EST | Permanent Link | Cosmos
My colleague Linda Nguyen reports:
Former Alberta MP Rahim Jaffer plead guilty on Tuesday to one count of careless driving and was fined $500 in an Orangeville, Ont., courtroom.
Mr. Jaffer, 37, was initially charged with cocaine possession, impaired driving and speeding stemming from an incident last September in Palgrave, Ont., about 60 kilometres north of Toronto. Those charges were withdrawn Tuesday by the Crown, who said that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
"I'm sure you can recognize a break when you see one," Judge Doug Maund told Mr. Jaffer before fining him . . .
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. |
http://davidakin.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/9/4476113.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/tories-bristle-when-asked-to-explain-rahim-jaffers-slap-on-the-wrist/article1495270/
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Poor+optics+Jaffer+sentence/2664542/story.html |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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| bacasper wrote: |
We have seen this so many times: people grandstanding against some great moral evil are alter found to be engaging in it themselves!
Lots of projection going around. |
It's a fairly well-documented psychological phenomenon, isn't it? |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
For what it's worth, Jaffer rose to his current Tory prominence via the "Reform" stream, not the "Conservative" stream. So this judges connections to Mulroney and Beatty might NOT be as telling as they would at first appear. (Historical note: Prior to the merger a few years back, the Conservatives and Reform were two separate political parties, in competition with one another.) |
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Kimbop
Joined: 31 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Apparently the cop who made the arrest was young and inexperienced. From the search & seizure to the breathalyzer, mistakes were made and evidence was inadmissible. The moral of the story is; Police: do your job correctly. Defendants: go to law school or hire a good lawyer. |
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Street Magic
Joined: 23 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:11 am Post subject: |
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| Kimbop wrote: |
| The moral of the story is; Police: do your job correctly. Defendants: go to law school or hire a good lawyer. |
That's one possible moral to get out of it.
I'm thinking more that the moral of the story is that prohibitionists aren't some paragons of virtue trying to compel everyone else to move up to their level of purity. Instead, they're normal, recreational substance using human beings acting as figureheads for the biggest drug trafficking gang in operation. Prohibition's bad enough in itself, but it goes above and beyond ridiculousness when you realize that the interests keeping "drugs" illegal are the same ones distributing. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Kimbop wrote: |
| Apparently the cop who made the arrest was young and inexperienced. From the search & seizure to the breathalyzer, mistakes were made and evidence was inadmissible. The moral of the story is; Police: do your job correctly. Defendants: go to law school or hire a good lawyer. |
As long as the voters know that he's guilty. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
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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. |
For what it's worth, Jaffer rose to his current Tory prominence via the "Reform" stream, not the "Conservative" stream. So this judges connections to Mulroney and Beatty might NOT be as telling as they would at first appear. (Historical note: Prior to the merger a few years back, the Conservatives and Reform were two separate political parties, in competition with one another.) |
I don't think Canada has a politicized judiciary anyways. The politics of this will be very fun to watch. |
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