Helena Guergis: Was she treated fairly?

Ontario MP Helena Guergis will respond to revelations that allegations against her of fraud, extortion and involvement with prostitutes, were unsubstantiated. (Canadian Press)

By CBC News

Ontario MP Helena Guergis is scheduled to hold a news conference in Collingwood, Ont., Friday morning to respond to a CBC News story indicating the allegations that got her ousted from cabinet, caucus and the Conservative Party last year included unsubstantiated claims of fraud, extortion and involvement with prostitutes.

A letter written by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's principal secretary to the commissioner of the RCMP indicates the allegations were made by a private investigator and were not based on any hard evidence.

The RCMP cleared Guergis of any wrongdoing. She claims she was never told what the allegations were.

Guergis resigned her cabinet post as minister of state for the status of women in April, 2010. She also sat outside the Conservative caucus as investigations into the allegations against her were conducted.

In July, the RCMP ended its inquiries into Guergis and her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer, concluding there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing against either of them.

Guergis, a small business owner and former provincial political adviser, was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in Ontario's Simcoe-Grey in 2004.

She is running as an independent in the 2011 federal election.

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Related links:

• Helena Guergis's tumultuous time in cabinet