John Baird crashes committee

CANADA - A parliamentary committee looking into the Rahim Jaffer affair had to eject Transport Minister John Baird when he and two other Conservative cabinet ministers showed up uninvited and began disrupting the meeting by shouting, pounding their fists on tables and openly threatening committee members.

The disruption was rather bizarre because while MPs are allowed to attend and listen to these parliamentary committee meetings, they aren't allowed to speak unless asked to by a member of the committee itself.

John Baird, known for his almost violent temper, didn't take no for an answer and proceeded to shout over the committee members, demanding that he be allowed to speak. He ended up disrupting the meeting so much that security had to be called to escort Baird and the other two cabinet ministers out.

The Rahim Jaffer scandal is a confusing affair in which John Baird and other senior Conservative party members are implicated in a conflict of interest, bribery and fraud scandal for government money. Inquiries and parliamentary committees looking into the "Watergate-ish" scandal are neck deep in trying to sort what went on behind closed doors and which Conservative party members knew about it and was accepting bribes.

It is still too soon to tell, but the fact Transport Minister John Baird, Science and Technology Minister Gary Goodyear and Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis all showed up suggests these three have a personal interest in the conflict of interest scandal.