Government Ops. Committee - June 17 2010 - Paul Calandra

In a hastily-arranged special meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, Rahim Jaffer appeared once again to answer questions concerning allegations of illicity lobbying on behalf of his firm Green Power Generation.


From the Globe and Mail: http://bit.ly/b0RMgY

Former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer lashed out at the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party today, saying the party that he once represented is unrecognizable and does not stand for democracy.

"We stood for democracy. We stood for freedom," he told a Commons committee this morning, referring to the party he first joined and was elected to as an MP to Parliament in 1997. He was defeated in 2008.

"The way my wife has been treated by your party and your government doesn't represent anything that I have ever ... worked for during the time I was an MP."

...

Mr. Jaffer is appearing this morning before the Government Operations committee for the second time. He appeared first last April but he admits he was unprepared at the time, appearing evasive and confused.

Mr. Jaffer, the defeated Edmonton Conservative MP, created a firestorm on Parliament Hill earlier this year as a result of questionable lobbying practices involving his new business.

He wants to try to clear his name before the summer break; the House of Commons is expected to rise today.

In a letter to the committee Wednesday, he apologized for "inadvertently providing incomplete information," explaining that he just wanted to appear immediately to try to help out his wife.


Here, Conservative MP Paul Calandra elicits some of the most interesting testimony of the day. He brings up the issue of Mr. Jaffer's trip to Cuba and the issue of his diplomatic passport. Mr. Jaffer does confirm his trip to Cuba, saying he went there on a "stag". After this, Mr. Calandra expresses his frustration over Mr. Jaffer's previous appearance before the committee. Mr. Jaffer kind of loses it at this point. A must-see.


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News & Politics

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• Government
• Ops
• Committee
• June
• 17
• 2010
• Paul
• Calandra

[MoDeeSeventyThree]

This is ironic, Calandra asking questions about issues regarding Jaffer's honesty and integrity considering his checkered past. Pot calling kettle black.