Something's Gotta go Wrong...

She was, "...feelin' way to damn good," as she moved on from the disaster that saw her kicked out of the Conservative Caucus in April, but Helena Guergis was thrust into the spotlight once more on Thursday. Once more, it was on a negative note as she remains front page material for various media outlets.

After the the fatal accident that saw Michael Ignatieff's Director of Communications, Mario Lague, pass away after his motorcycle collided with an SUV, it seems this former Conservative member who is no stranger to the spotlight, was also involved in an automotive accident.

Independant MP, Helena Guergis, was involved in a car accident near CFB Borden on Thursday. Thankfully, it was not fatal, but te MP probably was not too concerned about her own health and more of that of her unborn child. Five month pregnant Helena, was attending an announcement by Defense Minister Peter McKay at CFB Borden about new funding when her car was struck while going through an intersection. Her assistant was also in the vehicle, and both were rushed to a hospital in Alliston, Ontario.

She is now reportedly been released from the hospital and is recovering at home, as is her assistant, after being kept for observation. The pair will now take time off to recover from their injuries and spend time with their respective families after the experience. She is very lucky to have escaped the indecent with little to no injuries.

Defense Minister Peter McKay released the details of the the event to her office in Simcoe-Grey as she was obviously unable to attend and he wishes her a speedy recovery as parlayed by his spokesman, Jim Paxton to the Globe and Mail, "Minister MacKay was very sorry to hear about the accident and hopes Ms. Guergis, her baby and all on board recover quickly."

PM Stephen Harper was also near by when the event occurred as he was attending a charity hockey game in Barrie, Ontario. He has yet to comment on the event.

Welcome back Helena Guergis?

Well it’s starting to look as though PMO really did jump the gun by removing Helena Guergis from Conservative caucus. As previously reported, the RCMP completed their investigation of the embattled MP and her husband, concluding that they found no criminal wrong doings. In addition, the ethics commissioner has yet to accuse her or her husband of any ethical wrong doings. Add that to the word of the three reporters that have seen the security footage of the incident at the Charlottetown airport, and she certainly has a good case for wrongful dismissal.

The CBC’s Rosemary Barton is the latest journalist to see the security footage, and she reports that she doesn’t see Guergis taking any kind of tantrum. She says it is obvious the former minister is flustered, but clearly not freaking out as was previously reported.

With no word from the PMO on what the serious allegations are, it’s certainly starting to look as though the PMO made a major error in judgment.

To top it all off, Guergis is asking to be let back in to Conservative caucus! If I was ever treated the way she was by anyone, I would never ask them to hire me back. She was treated horribly and falsely accused by her own party, and now she is knocking on the door hoping they invite her inside. Her reason for this; “I’m a Conservative.”

Well, conservative or not, it seems like they don’t want her back. They could take her back in, and hope that this blows over. But that would involve admitting a mistake, which might just be something out of the realm of possibilities for our Prime Minister.

She is not totally convinced she will be welcomed back however, and has stated that whether she is the Conservative candidate or not, she will be on the ballot.

Now I’m not Conservative, but I have to say this; good luck Helena!

Helena requests face to face with PM

MP Helena Guergis has requested a meeting with the Prime Minister, issuing this statement:

Statement from the Hon. Helena Guergis, P.C., M.P., MBA

Simcoe-Grey

July 22, 2010

I am relieved with the outcome, as I knew that I had done nothing wrong. I continue to work hard for those who have elected me as their representative in Ottawa.

I will continue to work with the Ethics Commission who is in the midst of their own enquiry, and I am looking forward to a resolution on that end as well.

I think it is time for a face to face meeting between the PM and I. He can raise his concerns, whatever they are, and I can answer. I have never been afforded this opportunity.

Hon. Helena Guergis, P.C., M.P., MBA

Simcoe-Grey

If Guergis is indeed telling the truth when she says she doesn't know what the acusations are then she deserves this meeting without a doubt. Even if all of this is cleared up, it is highly likely that her political career is over. In this case, Harper may have acted too quickly and too strictly, and this may come back to haunt his as well as Guergis in the next election. Innocent until proven guilty Harper, not guilty if you're suspicious.

Libs behind Cons in poll

According to the latest EKOS poll, the Conservatives are ahead of the Liberals by 7 percentage points. The poll suggests that 32.4% of Canadians would vote for the Conservative Party while 25.5% of Canadians would vote for the Liberal Party. The Conservatives were ahead in every region of the country except Quebec according to the poll. The poll was conducted from July 14 to 20. This poll isn't looking very promising for the goals of the Liberal Express. Perhaps by the next poll we will see a bit of an improvement on the Liberal part as a result of the Express visiting a little more of the country.

On the census front, the Liberals have begun slamming the Government for its decisions, with Ignatieff claiming that the government wants to "fly blind." Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale is accusing the Conservatives of throwing Statistics Canada into chaos, with the Chief Statistician resigning over the census scandal.

Yesterday I informed you that the RCMP had cleared MP Helena Guergis, stating that the issues forwarded to them by the PMO contained no substance. Well CBC is also reporting that her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer has also been cleared as the RCMP found no evidence of any wrongdoing by either of them. The Ethics commissioner is still investigating, but if that report is anything like this RCMP report, PMO is going to have a lot of explaining to do. And some apologizing. According to a statement from PMO, their decision to remove Guergis from caucus still stands, and they do not regret it.

WOW

WOW! What started out as a very slow day has turned into by far the most exciting day of the past few weeks! Emotions are all over the place for people tonight; even professional journalists can't keep it together.

First off, the RCMP has announced that all issues forwarded to them regarding Helena Guergis are unfounded. They have cleared the MP, and said no further action will be taken. This is good for Guergis, not so good for PM Harper. While this must provide some satisfaction for Guergis, this is one scandal that will follow her for the rest of her political life. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the next election.

Next, more census controversy as the Chief Statistician at StatCan was forced to cancel his town hall meeting explaining the agency's opinion on the decision to scrap the long form census, after Industry Minister Tony Clement issued a statement reminding everyone that Statistics Canada is not an independent organization, but is in fact an agency of the Government, and therefore has the same opinion as the Government. Several hours later, the Chief Statistician resigned in protest with the Government still unwavering in its decision. This marks the end of another great public servant.

This proved too much for some journalists. One journalist in particular, Andrew Coyne, National Editor of Maclean Magazine finally blew up on the Conservatives. I recommend visiting his Twitter page and reading his last few posts, as they are quite astounding. Mr. Coyne is one of my most inspirational role models in the journalism world, and he usually presents himself with the upmost professionalism. I do hope that he is ok, and I can't help but feel a little sympathetic towards him as in my opinion, he is mostly right.

Guergus innocent: RCMP

I just couldn't wait to post this despite the fact that not a lot of details are known. The RCMP has announced that it has completed its investigation in Helena Guergis, and has found no substance to any of the issues forwarded to them by the PMO.

More details to come.

CBC Story here.

CBC Politics blog here (slightly more detailed)