I’ve covered the Rahim Jaffer / Helena Geurgis scandal since before it first broke, since each of these idiots demonstrated their true stripes before the house of entitlement came crashing down on them. I hope people follow Jaffer’s fall from grace carefully so they can see the pattern of a true Narcissist–I’m talking about an actual personality disorder. Once you recognize what he’s doing, you might be able to see the same pattern in the people you work or associate with, so you can learn to avoid becoming burned by them. I’ve interacted with many people with various forms/degrees of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and they show the same pattern Jaffer is demonstrating. Read the COMMENTS section below to learn how to spot one of the worst types of people you could ever come across.
Former Conservative member of parliament Rahim Jaffer waits to testify before the Commons government operations committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa April 21, 2010. (CHRIS WATTIE/REUTERS FILE PHOTO)
Joanna Smith — Ottawa Bureau, The Star
OTTAWA—An apologetic Rahim Jaffer says he was in such a rush to defend the reputation of his wife that he inadvertently gave wrong information to a Commons committee probing allegations that he was illegally lobbying the government.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Marc-Olivier Girard, clerk of the Commons government operations committee, the former Conservative MP from Edmonton says that his lawyer advised him to review all related emails and other documents before he appeared at the committee on April 21 to discuss the business activities of Green Power Generation Corp., his alternative energy technologies consulting firm.
He said that concern for his wife, former junior cabinet minister Helena Guergis, clouded his judgment.
“I ignored that advice,” Jaffer wrote in the letter obtained by the Toronto Star. “I was so upset about the treatment of my wife by the Prime Minister and other opinion leaders that I felt that I should fix the situation as soon as possible. I was certain that if I just came and answered questions, I could refute the allegations against my wife.
“I now know that I was wrong. I inadvertently ended up providing incomplete information to the Committee about a couple of important things and I really regret that,” Jaffer wrote. “It has embarrassed me. I apologize to the Committee.”
Jaffer was summoned to appear before the committee again Wednesday, but a letter from his lawyer also sent to the clerk Tuesday suggests that will not happen.
The committee is still waiting for confirmation that Jaffer will not appear, but the letter mentioned that he needed to attend a medical appointment with Guergis and suggested finding an alternative date.
MPs had wanted to grill Jaffer a second time because inconsistencies in his own testimony and the revelations of subsequent witnesses has thrown much of what he said during his initial appearance in doubt.
Jaffer admits and attempts to explain those errors in his letter.
“I didn’t have my facts straight about several issues,” Jaffer said after noting that his hurry to defend Guergis caused his message to be “scrambled and lost.”
“For example, I had forgotten what was on my personal website since I didn’t use it for (Green Power Generation) business,” Jaffer wrote. “I ended up first denying, then admitting that something that was there was actually there. Had I just prepared a little more carefully for this appearance, I would not have made that or similar mistakes.”
Jaffer also said that he was “unaware” that his business partner, Patrick Glémaud, was still doing business with Jim Wright when he told Guergis there would be no problem if she wrote a letter to Simcoe County officials promoting technology from Wright’s company as a solution to waste disposal.
“It was my responsibility to ‘keep up to speed’ with Patrick’s activity. . . I should have checked more thoroughly before answering Helena’s question and before assuring her that there was no impediment to her writing a letter of introduction on Jim Wright’s behalf,” Jaffer wrote. “I regret not doing so, but it was an inadvertent mistake.”
He also said that any use of the Blackberry given to him by Guergis’ office for his business activities would have been “inadvertent,” as he usually used his business account and personal account at home.
Jaffer also maintained his innocence and expressed his frustration at the tone of questioning during his first appearance, when it was clear that he had no friends on even the government side of the bench.
“I was also unprepared for the aggressive and nasty tone of some of the questioning at the Committee,” Jaffer wrote. “I took no money, government or otherwise. I used no influence. I traded no favours and I breached no trust. I was stunned that I would be accused of all that without a shred of evidence. I was appalled that it occurred at a House Committee. I think my answers reflected how confused and shocked I was by the content and tenor of the questioning. While I have made mistakes in my life, I have always taken responsibility for them. I am appalled and upset that anyone would so casually attack my character.”
The trouble with Jaffer stems from an Apr. 8 Toronto Star investigative report that placed Jaffer at a boozy dinner in downtown Toronto last fall boasting to shady business associates – including two men who have since been accused of fraud on an unrelated matter – that his political influence could help them access federal money for green technologies.
Subsequent reports have shown that Jaffer and Glémaud approached government officials and submitted proposals on behalf of other companies for consideration in the billion-dollar federal green infrastructure fund.
Neither they nor Green Power Generation Corp. is registered to lobby, but both deny their activities would be considered lobbying.
You’re right as always, RR! I’m gonna cut & paste Jaffer’s bullshit from today!
1. the claim he had lost a special passport when one MP asked if he could check it for visa stamps as proof he had not used it for business travel
2. the Commons government operations committee tabled a report to the House of Commons Thursday making the case that Jaffer is guilty of a breach of privilege and contempt.
3. Jaffer “has been disrespectful to the Committee” by failing to produce papers regarding his alternative energy technologies consulting firm Green Power Generation Corp., his relationship with accused fraudster Nazim Gillani and any contact he has had with government officials to discuss business.
4. Jaffer “seems to have misled the Committee in his testimonies.”
5. Jaffer was once again evasive and mixed up his facts under intense grilling from MPs.
6. A number of confused statements about his now-defunct personal website led Jaffer to be scolded harshly by Conservative MP Chris Warkentin
Thank you, Fight the Power! and thank you for posting the updates. Please keep the updates coming, as will I. I’m always fascinated with narcissists and psychopaths/sociopaths so I want to see how things develop.