Prime Minister gives Guergis the boot

The Prime Minister has called in the RCMP to investigate embattled Conservative Member of Parliament Helena Guergis.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he became aware of some very serious allegations against Geurgis late Thursday night.

“These allegations relate to the conduct of Ms. Geurgis and do not involve any other minister, MP, senator or federal government employee,” said Harper in a Friday afternoon press conference. “I’ve referred the allegations to the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner and to the RCMP.”

Meanwhile, Harper refuses to say what those allegations are and why the Mounties are investigating. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says Harper needs to be more clear on the nature of the allegations.

“He’s got to come out and level and be clear and be straight and then I think we all want to move on,” said Ignatieff. “If these are criminal accusations we need to know what they are.”

Guergis announced her resignation from cabinet in an email just minutes before Harper was set to hold his news conference.

She called the allegations made about her family “baseless” but said she needed to step aside for the sake of the government.

Guergis also took responsibility for any errors she may have made, but said she at no time compromised her oath of office.

In the email, she again apologized for her “emotional” outburst in February at Charlottetown airport, where she was delayed by security after showing up late for a flight.

No stranger to controversy.

The resignation follows a mushrooming scandal involving Geurgis and her husband former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer.

The latest allegation coming this week when the Liberals demanded an investigation into Guergis’s $880,000 mortgage on her Ottawa home to ensure there was no favouritism involved in its granting.

Guergis has been under fire since February when she threw a tantrum at the Charlottetown airport after security staff asked her to remove her shoes.

Last month it was revealed one of her aides had anonymously written several pro-Guergis letters to local papers in Guergis’s riding.

Jaffer has also been making headlines after facing drunk driving and drug charges last year.

Jaffer pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving and was ordered to pay a $500 fine, with more serious charges of drunk driving and cocaine possession were dropped.

Just last week, Jaffer was asked to remove the Conservative logo from his website after allegations that he promised to obtain government funds for associates with questionable backgrounds.

It was also revealed Jaffer had written personal emails on one of Guergis’s government-issued Blackberries.

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