 Helena Guergis Monday March 15, 2010 at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (ANDRE FORGET/QMI AGENCY)
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OTTAWA — Cocaine, sexy hookers and shadowy companies in offshore tax havens dominated Parliament Thursday as questions continued to swirl around the events that led to the resignation of Conservative cabinet minister Helena Guergis.
Meanwhile, the woman at the centre of the political maelstrom maintained that allegations she attended parties where cocaine was snorted and that companies in Belize had been “reserved” to hold cash for her and her husband were unfounded.
“Ms. Guergis vigorously denies all of this man’s bizarre claims and looks forward to helping the RCMP demonstrate that they are completely false,” said her lawyer Howard Rubel.
Rubel also called into question the credibility of Derrick Snowdy, the private investigator whose information led to Guergis’s resignation and her expulsion from cabinet.
“The source of these allegations is a report from a private investigator who, apparently while presenting himself as another potential victim of a man currently facing fraud charges, was told these ridiculous ‘boasts’ in an attempt to convince the investigator to do business with him,” Rubel said.
Last week, Snowdy contacted Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton as well as Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s office with information about conversations he had with Toronto businessman Nazim Gillani.
Gillani, who is reported to have told associates Jaffer could open the doors of the prime minister’s office to them, told Snowdy he had cellphone pictures of Guergis and her husband Rahim Jaffer at drug-fuelled parties and set up offshore companies for the pair.
The allegations have not been proven.
Ignatieff’s office never called him back, which spokesman Mario Lague says was “the right decision.”
Hamilton transmitted the information to Prime Minister Stephen Harper who then referred it to the RCMP and Parliament’s ethics commissioner.
However, Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson says that information was minimal and didn’t come with a request for an investigation.
“I have not had an official request from the prime minister to investigate anything relating to Ms. Guergis,” Dawson told CBC radio’s The Current.
Dawson said she has the power to launch an investigation herself, “but I have very little information at this time.”
Snowdy’s allegations and Dawson’s revelation fuelled renewed attacks from opposition MPs and questions about why Jaffer accompanied Guergis on a government visit to Belize in 2008.
Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc demanded to know why the prime minister didn’t order an enhanced security check on Guergis when Jaffer was charged with drunk driving and possession of cocaine.
“One does not buy cocaine at one’s local pharmacy. One has to have an illegal source.”
Transport Minister John Baird said Harper did the right thing and referred the allegations to the RCMP and the ethics commissioner.
elizabeth.thompson@sunmedia.ca
