There was an official news release issued late Wednesday in which the premier admits to talking on his hand-held cell phone while driving. He claims it was an urgent call.
[Almost immediate update: The Premier's statement refers to taking an urgent call "yesterday", i.e. Tuesday. Kevin Little indicated that he spotted the Premier on his cell phone on Monday. Did the Premier cop to a second incident, inadvertently?]
This isn't the first such story to circulate and within the past 24 hours, your humble e-scribbler has had accounts of two similar events.
The excuse is a bit lame. After all, it's not like the guy couldn't afford a hands-free attachment.
Maybe that would be a good idea for the Premier to investigate, once he's forked out for the $100 fine.
Speaking of lame, the Premier's Pitcher Plants must be feeling a might sheepish. Seems they spent the past day or so bombing CBC and VOCM with e-mails and calls attacking the integrity of the guy who filed the complaint. They accused him, among other things, of "picking on" the Premier.
Perhaps now that the Premier has fessed up, the Pitcher Plants would have the decency to retract their e-mails and publicly apologize - each and every one of them - for their smears.
In the meantime, the Premier should still be careful, just as all politicians should. As this particular individual showed, just because you happen to be a prominent person, you shouldn't be above the law.
People are a bit more likely to use their cell phones to take pictures.
You know, just so that they can back up their claims next time and mow down the Pitcher Plants in advance.
-srbp-