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EDMONTON - Justice has not been served for former MP Rahim Jaffer, a QMI Agency poll suggests.

And Jaffer's old Edmonton-Strathcona constituents are among those lashing out against the disgraced politician.

Getting what some called "a slap on the wrist," Jaffer pleaded guilty in Ontario court Tuesday to careless driving.

Cocaine possession and drunk-driving charges were withdrawn.

"It's a joke," said Bob Shank, while waiting for a bus Wednesday in Jaffer's old riding.

"He should've been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I would never vote for him in a lifetime."

More than 1,000 people responded to a QMI Agency poll that asked whether justice had been done in the case.

Eighty percent of people responding said no, while another 15% said they would never know.

By Bruce Cheadle, CP

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case and apply its lessons to the Conservative criminal justice agenda, the head of the John Howard Society said Tuesday.

"It's really easy to disparage discretion for judges - until you need it," Craig Jones told The Canadian Press in an interview.

Jaffer, a former senior Conservative MP in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, walked out of a courtroom in Orangeville, Ont., after drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped in return for a plea bargain on a careless driving charge.

"I'm sure you can recognize a break when you see one," Justice Doug Maund told Jaffer.

The decision drew howls of outrage from government critics, who accused the Conservatives of gross hypocrisy for promoting an aggressive "tough-on-crime" agenda but remaining silent when the mantra was not applied to one of their own.

Jones, who as executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada advocates for "effective, just and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime," took a different tack.

He contrasted the treatment of Jaffer to the Harper government's push to create mandatory minimum sentences for a whole host of offences.

Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer's guilty verdict in an Ontario courtroom has ignited an outrage across Canada. Many are now questioning why the charges of cocaine possession and drunk driving were dropped in the case.

Jaffer pleaded guilty to careless driving and received a $500 fine, and no criminal record.

The 38-year-old was charged last September with cocaine possession and drunk driving after being stopped by police for speeding in Palgrave, Ont., located about 60 kilometres north of Toronto.

Jaffer spoke to media outside of court apologizing for the incident.

"I should have been more careful. I'm sorry. I know this is a serious matter," he said. "Once again I apologize for that and I take full responsibility for my careless driving."

But now, some are saying the former Edmonton-area MP received special consideration and got off easy after the more serious charges were withdrawn.

"You've got to wonder if it was a different situation, a different person -- maybe there wouldn't be the same outcome," said Gillian Phillips with MADD Canada's Edmonton and area chapter. 

By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service

OTTAWA — The head of Canada's prison system says there will be "major construction initiatives" in the coming years to cope with federal legislation to imprison more offenders longer — an assertion backed by new spending estimates showing a 43 per cent increase in penitentiary capital costs next year.

Don Head, commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, set the stage for prison expansion in a recent e-mail, obtained by Canwest News Service.

In a brief note to staff sent on Dec. 23, Head announced changes to the senior ranks of the prison system "to best prepare itself to implement many of the changes associated with several of the pieces of legislation that will result in a growth of our inmate population."

By John Hutton, Winnipeg Sun

Despite having spent most of last year arguing that his “tough on crime” agenda was urgently needed, Stephen Harper killed off most of it when he prorogued Parliament.

This means the legislation will have to be re-introduced and debated all over again over the next few months.

It is also a second chance for Canadians to see that his initiatives aren’t going to accomplish much, but they are going to cost taxpayers a lot of money.

Harper’s agenda involves increasing the amount of time people have to serve in jail or prison (at taxpayer expense) by imposing more minimum sentences, and making it harder for inmates to get parole.

More time, he argues, should equal less crime. It’s a simple solution and like most simple solutions to complex problems, it doesn’t work.

In real life, there is little correlation between crime rates and sentence lengths. Most people who break the law don’t stop to consider the consequences; they act on impulse, they may be under the influence or they don’t think they’ll get caught. Whatever the case, stiffer sentences do not stop people from breaking the law.

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News

Drunk driving and drug possession charges were dropped against former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer in court Tuesday, but he pleaded guilty to a lesser offence of careless driving.

Jaffer, 38, was ordered to pay a $500 fine within a month. He also donated $500 to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, his lawyer said.

An agreed statement of fact read by Crown lawyer Marie Balogh said that last Sept. 10, an Ontario Provincial Police constable clocked Jaffer driving 93 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h speed zone in Palgrave, northwest of Toronto.

The village is in the southern Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey held by his wife, federal Tory cabinet minister Helena Guergis.

Jaffer said he had consumed two beers two hours earlier and was travelling home to Angus, Ont., from Toronto, the statement said. The constable said Jaffer failed his breathalyzer test.

By. Charles W. Moore

I'm a Stephen Harper supporter. I think he's the best Canadian prime minister of my lifetime (the possible exception being Louis St. Laurent, but I'm not quite old enough to remember), and I would love to see Mr. Harper succeed in his quest for a parliamentary majority.

However, even I'm getting fatigued by the Conservative Party's stridently negative attacks on Opposition leaders and members, and wish they would step back a bit - something most Canadians would appreciate and thus strategically beneficial to achieving that majority objective.