JAFFER ARRESTED FOR DRUNK DRIVING, COCAINE POSSESSION

Former Edmonton-Strathcona Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer faces charges
of drunk driving and cocaine possession after a late-night arrest
north of Toronto last week.

Police arrested and charged Jaffer shortly before 1 a. m. on Sept. 11
in Palgrave, a small village 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

In a news release issued Wednesday, police said an officer stopped
Jaffer for speeding, smelled alcohol on his breath, and initiated an
investigation.

Jaffer and his grey Ford Escape were searched, and police allegedly
found the cocaine.

He was taken to the Caledon OPP station, where he was held in police
custody for four hours while he provided two more breath samples.

He was then charged and his licence was suspended for 90 days. He was
released on a promise to appear in an Orangeville court on Oct. 19.

Police did not say whether Jaffer was alone when he was arrested or
how much cocaine was found. It is not known whether he received a
speeding ticket.

Neither Jaffer nor his family returned phone calls
Wednesday.

Jaffer's wife, Simcoe-Grey MP Helena Guergis, issued a brief statement
addressing the charges Wednesday night. "I take this very seriously,"
she said. "I love my husband. I will wait for further information
before I make any comment."

Longtime family friend and business partner Patrick Glemaud said
Jaffer is "doing well, but shocked.

"At the end of the day, it will be proven that he is not guilty, but
the damage is already done," he said.

Edmonton MLA Thomas Lukaszuk knew Jaffer well and said he never saw
him intoxicated in any way. "I knew him to be a religious person,"
Lukaszuk said. "He was his family's pride, and they worked really hard
to give him the opportunity to become an MP, and I know his ethnic
community was extremely proud of him. He has just been charged, so we
shouldn't be convicting him yet."

MacEwan College political scientist John Soroski said Canadians are
more forgiving of politicians' mistakes than are Americans.

He noted B. C. Premier Gordon Campbell overcame a 2003 impaired
driving conviction to win a second majority government in 2005, and
former Alberta premier Ralph Klein continued to have the support of
the electorate after he got drunk, went into a homeless shelter and
threw money at people.

"People might be prepared to tolerate the drunk driving, but if he was
to be convicted of possession that might be difficult to recover
from," Soroski said.

However, he noted Alberta is the heart of the reform movement and
voters might be less tolerant. "There's really no precedent for this
in Alberta," he said.

Jaffer, 37, was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 as a
member of the Reform party. At 25, he was the first Muslim and one of
the youngest MPs on Parliament Hill. He lost his seat last fall to New
Democrat Linda Duncan.

In the run-up to the election, Jaffer's campaign took out anti-drug
ads.