UPDATED (and WOW!) Told ya so! Grewal now says he will NOT resign

Here's the latest on Raj Grewal, member of the Canadian parliament representing the Sikh-majority riding of Brampton East. As Walt reported a week ago -- see "Canuck media treat troubled Liberal MP with kid gloves", WWW 24/11/18 -- Mr Grewal used Facebook to announce to his constituents that he intended to resign in order to deal with "medical and personal problems".

Walt (and many others in the alt-media) were brave enough to ask, aloud and in print, for specifics of the MP's "problems". In response, the office of Prime Minister Just In Trudeau issued a statement saying that Mr Grewal had informed them that he was receiving treatment from a health professional "related to a gambling problem that led him to incur significant personal debts. Based on these circumstances, we agreed that his decision to resign as member of Parliament for Brampton East was the right one. We hope he receives the support he needs."

So that's all right then... nothing to see here, folks... Except that Mr Grewal failed to actually resign. There are procedures to follow, notices to be given to Elections Canada and other authorities. But after making the announcement through the social media, Mr Grewal went to ground, refusing to speak to the meeja or occupy his seat in the House of Commons.

Once again, the lamestream media buried the story of the non-resignation below the fold, so it fell to Walt to explain why Mr Grewal was reluctant to give up his seat. Agent 3 suggests that there's more at stake than a Member's six-figure salary and generous expense account. Of even greater benefit to Mr Grewal, it seems, is the immunity from arrest that a member enjoys while Parliament is in session.

I wrote that on Tuesday. Yesterday, Mr Grewal sent a video to "Canada's national newspaper" [sic], the Globe and Mail, in which he said... wait for it... that he may not resign after all! (Lifetime pct .990.) He admits to having accumulated personal debt in the "millions of dollars" by playing high limit blackjack at the casino across the river from Parliament Hill. But, he said, that debt is now fully repaid. What he did not say is where he got the funds to pay back "millions of dollars".

Mr Grewal called his gambling a mental disorder, born "out of human frailty". [I'll give you 8 to 5 on that. Ed.] He went on to say that the problem "escalated" after he was elected in 2015. Although he announced on Facebook (!) that he was going to resign to deal with the problem, Mr Grewal now says the post was "ill-advised" and the job he was elected to do in his riding of Brampton East "remains unfinished." Hey, there's almost a year of feeding at the public trough before the next election!

Mr Grewal concluded by saying he will make his final decision after Parliament resumes in the new year. Although he will cling to his seat, he will resign from the Liberal caucus so as not to be an embarrassment to Mr Dressup. "I've decided that I will be leaving the Liberal caucus and will be taking a leave of absence to focus on my mental health and treatment plan," Mr Grewal said... again... Stay tuned.

UPDATE ADDED at 0715 -- Ed. no sooner posted the latest chapter in the saga of Raj Grewal's non-resignation when Agent 3 sent us a story which just appeared in Canada's real national newspaper, the National Post, headlined "RCMP called to probe tale of two Liberal MPs, a suburban overpass, trip to India and multimillion dollar land deal". The two Liberal MPs referred to are Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, on the left in the NP pic, and... sure enough... Raj Grewal, still the honourable member for Brampton East.

Both gentlemen are Sikhs. Further reading (especially for readers in Brampton):
"To my friends in Brampton", WWW 24/10/09
"Saying the unsayable about the unspeakable in Brampton, Canada", WWW 25/4/14.
Is this really what you wanted?

"Lifestyle challenges" lead Canuck cabinet minister to resign

Meet the Honourable Hunter Tootoo, Member of the Canadian Parliament for Nunavut and Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard... until Monday, when he resigned his cabinet position and from the Liberal caucus to seek treatment for addiction issues, after what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called "a very difficult situation".

This is not really big news, not even in the Great White North (shown clearly in the picture). Over the last three decades almost 40 Canuck cabinet ministers have had to resign for personal and/or professional reasons, including controversies and scandals. Often, they weren't gone forever, just sent to purgatory for a while and then rehabilitated. Having been in a similar position himself -- not a cabinet position, just in the position of having to quit to avoid being fired -- Walt wishes Mr Tootoo a speedy recovery.

Mr Tootoo's problem with the evil drink must surely have been exacerbated by the challenging lifestyle of a parliamentarian. As Canada's Global TV news site puts it, "Life on Parliament Hill, with its parade of free meals and wine-soaked networking events, can make it difficult for even the most stout-willed politicians, staffers and journalists to avoid overindulging at the best of times." Yes, that's what it says on the landing page, as the lead for a story headed "Parliament Hill cocktail circuit creates lifestyle challenges for MPs". Walt is bemused by the juxtaposition of that story with the advertisement immediately underneath.

Maybe if the brewers and vintners and distillers stopped advertising the stuff, people wouldn't drink so much? Yeah... right....

Footnote: Non-Canadian readers may think that "Tootoo" is an unusual name. Not so in Nunavut. Lots of Tootoos up there, including one -- Jordin Tootoo -- who now makes his home in New Jersey, where he plays for the NHL's Jersey Devils.

Another footnote: Never heard of Nunavut? You'll hear it described quite accurately in the excellent video embedded in "Advice on moving to Canada (in case Trump wins)", WWW 27/4/16.

Yet another footnote: Did you think "lifestyle challenges" related to gender identity? John Baird is no longer in the cabinet or even in parliament, having resigned suddenly and mysteriously a couple of years ago.