Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Guergis frequently let husband use government car: so what?

This is the sort of stuff that might get you kicked out of cabinet but it won't get you out of caucus or have the police called in. Cabinet Ministers should not use their staff for personal matters but if they do it's a small matter -- yes it's wrong and impolitic and may speak to an abuse of power but it is a trifle. Taking a pencil from work is theft and wrong but if you call the cops on an employee who did that they'd laugh at you. I cannot see this as being the basis of the PMO's actions:

http://tinyurl.com/yb4amjc


A former chauffeur of Helena Guergis alleges the cashiered cabinet minister routinely let her husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, use her government car and driver for his own personal use.

The allegation, which raises serious questions about the possible abuse of tax dollars, arrives as new information reveals that Ms. Guergis and Mr. Jaffer were vacationing in the Caribbean when she was forced from cabinet last week.

In an interview, the former driver to Ms. Guergis said he usually brought her to work in the morning, and then took care of the transportation needs of Mr. Jaffer, who lived with Ms. Guergis in Ottawa during the week. The practice occurred for a period after the fall, 2008, election, when Mr. Jaffer lost his Edmonton seat.

“During the day, if he needed my services, he would call me, or she would call me to tell me to go and pick him up at such and such a place,” said Ms. Guergis’s former chauffeur, who spoke to The Globe and Mail on condition of anonymity to protect his current position. “He kept me busier; she was usually at the office during the day.”

5 comments:

Myriam said...

And this is why Harper fired her and called in the RCMP? Puh-lease! Give me a break!

Anonymous said...

If he used the car and driver to get his dry cleaning and groceries it would be a small matter. If he used the car and driver as a prop to impress his marks and other associates, and make them think he was acting as part of the government, it's a totally different matter.

wilson said...

And how would the driver KNOW Jaffer was conducting personal business and not assisting Helena?

Are drivers kept in the loop as to WHY the occupant is being driven to a destination?

The drivers log would answer that question.
And that is why the RCMP have been tasked with finding answers,
and NOT the media and opposition MPs

lr said...

why the hell do MPs have drivers in the first place!??!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the PM is worried she's a friendly user.