The squalid affairs of the household of Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer open such a can of squirming worms it’s hard to know where to start.

Guergis was sacked yesterday from her cabinet post by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who media reports said has asked the Mounties to investigate her for “unknown allegations regarding her conduct.”

Her husband, the former Member of Parliament dumped by Edmonton voters in October 2008, has been exposed by the Toronto Star in the past few hours as someone who consorts with known villains and “busty hookers” — although why the constantly repeated physical attributes of these persons is relevant has never been made clear.

Developments in the sordid story pop up so quickly it’s hard even for veteran news junkies to keep pace. In response, the prime minister has been reduced to playing Whac-a-Mole!

Canadians need to take a breath and ask some serious questions about this affair, instead of just getting caught up in the latest sensational revelations.

First, what has the prime minister asked the Mounties to investigate Guergis for doing? Knowing the accusations she faces will help Canadians judge for themselves the implications, and the seriousness, of this sorry business. The prime minister obviously wants to flush it down the Memory Hole as quickly as quickly as possible. This should not be permitted.

Second, why were serious charges of drunk driving, illegal drug possession and speeding against Jaffer dropped by an Ontario court March 9, apparently with the involvement of Ontario justice authorities? With the many lurid revelations of the past few days, it’s been easy to forget Canadians have never received a satisfactory answer to this key question about the administration of justice in our country.

Third, why are Jaffer’s ongoing efforts to portray himself as a Conservative insider and intimate of the prime minister not been a problem until now, after a series of embarrassing developments such as his criminal charges and misuse of his wife’s email address, and her letter writing activities and airport temper tantrums? Does the prime minister seriously expect us to believe that no one noticed what Jaffer was up to in the year plus seven months since voters in Edmonton-Strathcona wisely sent him packing? Please!

It has been as plain as the now-vanished RahimJaffer.ca — which promised foreign business people assistance to “secure support from the Canadian government” — that Jaffer has for months been passing himself off as someone who can influence the prime minister, cabinet and Conservative caucus.

Fourth, where do the Conservatives find these young parliamentarians? This is a serious question, seeing as they propose to run someone in Jaffer’s old riding who appears to be the product of exactly the same selection process. Sorry, but people who have lived no life outside politics and have never held a normal job do not make good representatives for those of us who must earn a living.

Finally, in the few days before the latest Guergis-Jaffer revelations, the prime minister was promoting the idea nefarious criminals shouldn’t be allowed to receive their old-age pensions, a typical Conservative wedge issue. Is it too much to ask that he should take a look at some of the dubious characters who will qualify for a generous Parliamentary pension when they reach 55?

David J. Climenhaga

David J. Climenhaga

David Climenhaga is a journalist and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions with the Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. He left journalism after the strike...