The former chairman of the Conservative caucus who was featured in anti-drug
campaign ads is facing charges of cocaine possession and drunk driving.
Former Edmonton MP Rahim Jaffer,
husband of federal Tory cabinet minister Helena Guergis, was arrested in the wee
hours of last Friday morning by Ontario Provincial Police in the village of
Palgrave, north of Toronto.
A police report indicated that the
officer who stopped a speeding SUV at about 12:45 a.m. could smell alcohol on
the breath of the driver.
Jaffer has been charged with driving
while over the legal blood-alcohol limit and with possession of cocaine.
His licence has been suspended for 90
days and he is to appear in court in Orangeville, Ont., on Oct. 19.
Jaffer did not respond to several
requests for comment.
Guergis, a junior minister
responsible for women's issues, issued a brief statement saying "I take this
very seriously. I love my husband. I will wait for further information before I
make any comment."
Jaffer, 37, was MP for the riding of
Edmonton-Strathcona from 1997 until a surprise defeat in last year's election to
the NDP's Linda Duncan.
Days before the vote, Jaffer's
campaign approved radio ads chiding NDP Leader Jack Layton for comments years
earlier that Jaffer cast as broad support for marijuana use.
The spots said, in part:
"Edmontonians understand how difficult it is to make sure our children make the
right choices, especially on serious issues like drug use. The Conservative
Party supports drug-free schools and getting tough with drug dealers who sell
illegal drugs to children. Don't let our schools go up in smoke. On October 14th
vote Conservative."
Jaffer was born in Kampala, Uganda,
and immigrated to Edmonton with his family as a boy to escape persecution under
the iron-fist rule of Idi Amin.
He was just 25 when he first arrived
in Parliament as an MP. He was telegenic, articulate, personable and immediately
seen as a rising star in his party. But his early years in office were not
without controversy.
Jaffer offered an emotional apology
in the House of Commons in 2001 after one of his aides, Matthew Johnston, was
caught impersonating him on a radio show while Jaffer was busy elsewhere.
After several months in the political
wood shed, Jaffer was re-elected in 2006 and named Conservative caucus chairman
by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Jaffer was staying in Angus, Ont., in
his wife's southern Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey when his vehicle was pulled
over.
The gregarious MP was a regular on
the Ottawa party scene before romance blossomed with Guergis. They were married
last Oct. 15 - one day after the federal election.
Jaffer's defeat the day before at the
hands of Duncan gave the NDP the only seat in Alberta not held by the federal
Conservatives. Party brass privately grumbled that he did not work hard enough
in a riding that should have been theirs. When the time came to nominate the
Conservative candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona riding, Jaffer was not encouraged
to run. Party officials quietly urged a former PMO assistant to Harper's chief
of staff to seek the nomination there.
Jaffer recently worked for Green
Power Generation Corporation, which helps bring alternative energy technologies
to market.