We've gone from convicting Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer to wondering if Prime Minister Stephen Harper dumped the junior minister too quickly. It's been a busy and hectic week keeping up with all of the scoops, rumours and gossip about Guergis and Jaffer and you can be sure this story is not done yet.
On Thursday morning the allegation was that there were photographs of "Jaffer and Guergis partying with high-class escorts when cocaine was being snorted" and by the weekend the line was that Harper acted in haste.
Did the PM dump a minister too quickly? I don't know, we will have to wait until the allegations have been looked into and the fact is sorted from the fiction. Some, such as Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff think the PM should have acted sooner, he seems to suggest that Guergis should have been kicked out of caucus last September when her husband Jaffer was arrested on drunk driving and drug possession charges. Ignatieff won't say that directly but he's been hinting at it since his media availability after caucus last Wednesday.
As for Prime Minister Harper, with the allegations in the public and much discussion about them, he should offer some explanation for why he found the allegations so credible that he had to act as swiftly as he did.
Canadians often complain that we don't have political scandals like they have in other countries, now we do but it has also turned into a tragedy and a farce at the same time. Let's see what the third act has to offer.
Brian Lilley is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for radio stations Newstalk 1010 in Toronto and CJAD 800 in Montreal. Follow Brian on Twitter to get the latest as it happens.
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Comments
She should have been removed when she revealed, to the media, the whereabouts of Ignatieff and Dion during their trip to Afghanistan - thereby putting them at risk for attacks by the Taliban.
Harper's had plenty of warning flags, but he didn't care about things that she did that hurt other people - he only acted when she did things that would hurt him, his reputation, and his quest for his Precioussss - the Majority government.
Harper is a bit of a Gollum.
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