Raj Grewal's sudden resignation as a Liberal MP from Brampton East is, according to the Prime Minister's Office, because he needs to seek treatment for a gambling problem that has driven him into debt.
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At least Raj Grewal realizes he has a problem. Unlike Trudeau, rolling the dice at the UN all the time and gambling taxpayers’ money, worth $10.5 million a pop, as when he handed the free money cheque to Omar Khadr.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's controversial trip to India also cost Canadian taxpayers $1.66 million.
Global Affairs spent the most on the trip — $790,210, including $17,044 to fly celebrity chef Vikram Vij to India, to prepare a meal for an official reception. Drinks aboard an official Airbus flight also cost taxpayers another $142,938, as per the latest review of payments.
While former PM Stephen Harper's 2012 trip to India only cost Canadians $2.5 million.
Trudeau's Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan also wasted Canadians a further $337,000 on a taxpayer-funded trip that was planned by General Vance’s office. Vance okayed the booze on the RCAF aircraft.
Oh well, if the Liberal leader himself is like a Santa Claus, spending left and right with both hands, how can we expect any better from his party members?
At least we need to respect Raj Grewal for having enough integrity to resign, contrary to the bunch of others lacking honesty and integrity such as Harjit Sajjan, Bill Morneau, Maryam Monsef, and the worst one, Trudeau himself, the selfie boy.
If we talk about Raj Grewal, seems it could be a lot worse than just a medical issue. Certainly, the Liberals' track record doesn't exactly inspire confidence, despite Trudeau initially making all the right noises... and then leaving it at that.
Take the case of Seamus O'Regan. This Cabinet Minister, one among Trudeau's inner circle, was initially sent to rehab for alcohol addiction in late 2015. But then O'Regan realized his sexuality was connected to his substance abuse.
Still later, Trudeau was reduced to having to apologize for O'Regan's decades of discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
But that's not the end of the story. O'Regan was then promoted after he went through rehab.
I think the Liberals have now forced Raj Grewal's resignation because of the conflict of interest probe, and the gambling and medical angle is a convenient way out. The media should dig deeper to get the full story out, it’s Canadian citizen’s rights.
I fully acknowledge we should all have empathy with these mental health issues and hope there is a chance of recovery.
However, before people are selected for positions of power or given highly responsible tasks like helping choose a PM's entourage for an official foreign tour, they should be properly investigated.
They have the responsibility for acting in the best interests of Canadians at the core of their mandates, and sadly, it seems so often to be the case with the Trudeau Government that's never going to happen.
I also wonder: is a "gambling problem" another term for "Money Laundering"?
Canadians, especially Bramptonians, need to stand up for their tax dollars, and it’s their right to ask that this Brampton East MP's gambling problem be investigated by Peel Police and the RCMP if there is any suspicion of money laundering.
I am afraid this is the just visible edge of the iceberg. If they investigate the Liberal cabinet a little more, they will probably find
a lot of wrongdoings, must be punished.
Delivering billions of tax dollars to certain interest groups is certainly a bad sign. This is arguably the worst managed economy so far in Canada's history. Unprotected borders are open for a Third World invasion.
Healthcare is at its lowest ebb; if you need emergency care, surgery, or even simple vaccinations, good luck with that - you need to wait forever if you can survive the wait or end up at the funeral home.
Minister Bill Morneau’s budget update projected a shortfall of $18.1 billion for the current fiscal year, $17.5 billion in 2019 and $16.9 billion in 2020.
This is the way our deficit-fuelled economy is being run, ensuring our financial debt will continue to keep ballooning - and this at a time when our economy's booming. God help us when bad times come... as they surely must, given this level of mismanagement.
Trudeau is living proof that to run a country the PM must have some qualifications and experience. Sadly, our Prime Minister has neither. Our country will not survive the Trudeau family unless citizens wake up and vote him out next year.
BIOGRAPHY Surjit Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer who has previously contributed to the Huffington Post, Toronto Sun, Brampton Guardian and other publications.
He has lived in Brampton, Ontario for the last 30 years. He is a news reporter and photographer who has been published all over the world in more than 100 newspapers, magazines and online.
Contact the Op-Ed editor Ted Blackwater at tedblackwater@poandpo.com ■
Predominant upper-level ridging stretching from the Southwest to the southern High Plains will allow for another day of record-breaking heat across parts of Nevada and Arizona today.