One of the highly discussed topics in the past weeks undoubtedly is Liberal MP Rajvinder Grewal’s alleged gambling addiction and the devastating impact it has had on his personal life and political career. It has been recently confirmed that even though he notified the Prime Minister’s Office about his desire to resign, he might have reconsidered such a radical move over the span of the past week.
As the scandal unravels more and more details about MP Grewal have come to the surface, involving ongoing investigations into his gambling habits. In order to save some face and put an end to the speculations spiraling out of control, Mr. Grewal issued yet another public post on Facebook shedding more light on his current situation when it comes to gambling.
He made it clear to the Canadian voters that he had taken his time to appropriately address the problem at hand and this has changed his mind.
New Public Announcement Issued
Up to this point, MP Grewal has remained relatively silent on the issue after his initial announcement he is planning to resign from his seat. Later Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear it is in fact a gambling addiction that has prompted this decision, due to the devastating impact it has had on the Liberal MP’s life.
I confirmed, in writing, earlier this morning to the Speaker of the House of Commons that Raj Grewal, MP for Brampton East, is not a member of the Liberal Caucus #CDNpoli
— Mark Holland (@markhollandlib) December 1, 2018
In his most recent statement the MP shares more about his issues dating back to 2015 when he was elected to this position. According to him, stepping back and reevaluating where he is at in his life has led him to the final decision to exit the Liberal caucus but not end his political career, a least for the time being. He has a bigger fish to fry at the moment, as he will have to focus on his mental health.
What should definitely be addressed for starters would be his inner issues which have led to the problem gambling in the first place. He stated in his recent social media post that the debt he has generated over the span of the past several years has appeared as a result of his addiction to high-stakes, high-limit Blackjack. His gambling venue of choice was the one in the vicinity of the Parliament Hill, Casino du Lac Leamy which proved to be the most convenient one location-wise.
Next Year Will Bring His Final Decision
His beloved ones and close friends might have been aware of his self-destructive tendencies and the gambling, as they have been loaning him money and further fueling the addiction. The said loans were made via cheques and the transparency has been maintained through the three years of his gambling progressively becoming more serious. MP Grewal event went so far as to clarify he has paid all his debts as of now and they have reached millions of Canadian dollars.
What should also be pointed out is that he notified the Prime Minister’s Office about his struggles with money debts and compulsive gambling several days before the Prime Minister himself learned. Many speculations about the Prime Minister’s lack of action and not informing voters about the MP’s gambling issues earlier have spurred over the past few weeks. Now the fact that he was simply unaware of such issue provides an explanation.
In the wake of this announcement Richerd Fadden, former National Security Adviser, stated that information flow across the Prime Minister’s Office has always been well-developed. This is why now it seems unlikely that nobody knew about the Liberal MP’s issues. Even though the PMO members might have known about such issue, this does not mean that the PM was also in the know. Now it is a waiting game, as MP Grewal plans to wait until after the parliamentary winter break and issue his final decision.