News Item: Grewal Not Seeking Re-election

Gurmant Grewal, the Conservative MP who secretly taped converations with Liberal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh and the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Tim Murphy, will not be seeking re-election in the riding of Newton-North Delta in British Columbia. The Grewal tapes, as they are now known, were recorded in the run up to the confidence vote last spring that the Liberals were narrowly able to survive thanks to Belinda Stronach, who defected from the Conservatives in exchange for a Cabinet seat (the tie vote on the motion had to be broken by the House Speaker, who voted to continue the government).

On the tapes, Dosanjh and Murphy are heard negotiating with Grewal over the reward he could expect for defecting. The incident tarnished the reputation of everyone involved -- not only Dosanjh and Murphy who were caught trying to bribe an opposition MP, but Grewal as well. Grewal claims that he was just pretending to go along with the negotiations in order to gather incriminating evidence on the Liberals, that the whole thing was just a sting operation. The more likely explanation is that he was genuinely interested in accepting a bribe, just not happy with what was being offered.

So in response to today's news that Grewal is retiring from politics, I say "Good riddance." I'll say the same to Dosanjh, Murphy and Stronach when their political careers fade into the sunset.