JURY OUT ON JAFFER'S POLITICAL FUTURE

Former Tory MP Pleads Guilty To Careless Driving

Rahim Jaffer was told by a judge Tuesday he should "recognize a break"
after the former Edmonton MP received a $500 fine for careless
driving, while charges of cocaine possession, impaired driving and
speeding were dropped.

While the court case is over, observers are unsure if voters would
someday give the 38-year-old former politician a similar break.

"The fact that the charges were laid really ... brought a cloud over
his political future," MacEwan University political scientist
Chaldeans Mensah said Tuesday.

"Rahim Jaffer has to embark on a rehabilitation exercise, and count on
the better nature of Canadians and their capacity to forgive."

Jaffer was 25 when he first went to Ottawa as a Reform party MP in
1997. After 11 years in Parliament, during which he belonged to three
parties -- Reform, Canadian Alliance and finally the Conservatives --
he lost his Edmonton-Strathcona seat in 2008 to the NDP's Linda Duncan.

On Sept. 11, 2009, Ontario Provincial Police pulled Jaffer over for
speeding in Palgrave, a village 60 kilometres north of Toronto. He was
given a breathalyzer test and ultimately faced three charges.

On Tuesday, Jaffer pleaded guilty to careless driving and was fined
$500. Crown prosecutors in Orangeville, Ont., dropped the initial
three charges, saying there was no reasonable prospect of obtaining a
conviction.

"I'm sure you can recognize a break when you see one," Judge Doug
Maund said, before fining Jaffer.

Outside the courtroom, Jaffer apologized for his "careless"
behaviour.

"I'm sorry. I know this was a serious matter," said Jaffer, who has
always denied he had drugs in his possession that night or drove while
impaired. "I know I should have been more careful and I took full
responsibility for my careless driving."

Alberta Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk, a longtime friend, has
said in the past he has never known Jaffer to drink alcohol.

On Tuesday, Lukaszuk couldn't say whether Jaffer's political career
could bounce back -- or if he would have any interest in returning to
politics.

"It's difficult, but it's up to the electorate, you know. Everybody
has a chance to run. And whether the electorate will accept him or
not, if he chooses to run, that will be up to his electorate."

Lukaszuk said he hasn't spoken to Jaffer recently.

Former Reform party member and Lethbridge College political scientist
Faron Ellis said Jaffer's political affiliation presents another
obstacle to his getting back into the game.

"He's with a party that tends to present itself as tough on crime,"
Ellis said.

If Jaffer does take another run at politics -- whether in Alberta or
in Ontario, where his wife holds a federal seat and a portfolio in the
Conservative cabinet -- Ellis suggested the former MP needs to head
off "whisper campaigns." He would have to answer questions about why
the charges were dropped and why he was charged to begin with, Ellis
said.

Jaffer is married to MP Helena Guergis, minister of state for the
status of women in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet.

"As a political couple, anything that affects one member of the family
is not very good" for the other, said Mensah.

Guergis came under public scrutiny last month after reports she threw
a tantrum in a Prince Edward Island airport.

The decision to withdraw charges against Jaffer came after talks
between prosecutors and defence lawyers, Ontario Attorney General
Chris Bentley said.

Steven Penney, a law professor at the University of Alberta, said
there could be two likely reasons to throw out criminal charges
against Jaffer.

His rights could have been violated if police wrongfully stopped him,
Penney said, or prosecutors may have decided the evidence was not
strong enough to proceed to trial.

"We may never know what the reasons are," he said.

In Ottawa, Conservatives noted the case took place in provincial court
under Ontario's jurisdiction.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, meanwhile, took a swipe at
Jaffer's 2008 election campaign.

"I know he did his last election campaign on drug-free schools. He
should have done it on drug-free cars," Duceppe quipped. "It gives you
an idea of those people who preach about being holier than thou, and
when we scratch beneath the surface, we find something else."