Feb 2019 Toronto newspaper published an expose, claiming that prime minister Justine Trudeau intervened in the criminal prosecution of a multinational engineering firm headquartered in Montreal called SNC-Lavalin with 50,000 employees worldwide. This led Trudeau into the biggest scandal ever in his political career.
TREDEAU’S IMPROPER EFFORTS TO PROTECT A COMPANY FROM CRIMINAL ACCUSATIONS?
The corporation was accused of a bribery and fraud scheme that funneled tens of millions of dollars to the family of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi a decade ago. If found guilty, the company could be banned from bidding on federal contracts in Canada for a decade.
Testifying before parliament, former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould said Trudeau himself pressured her to go easy on Lavalin. Jody Wilson-Raybould recalled that he asked the prime minister "Are you politically interfering with my role, my decision as the attorney general? I would strongly advise against it," . Then the prime minister, said “No, no, no. We just need to find a solution.”
If the case was treated easily, it would became an agreement which would have allowed the company to pay reparations but avoid a criminal trial on charges of corruption and bribery.
Wilson-Raybould says Trudeau refused to back off. He and his staff kept pushing her for months in 2018, warning her that if the company was prosecuted aggressively, it could affect jobs in Montreal and cripple the Liberal Party's re-election chances.
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| Former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi |
Their goal, she said, was to protect jobs while also bolstering the Libe ral Party's political standing in the province of Quebec ahead of next October's general election.
When the Liberals win Quebec, they often win a majority of seats in parliament. When they lose, they lose badly.
"I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion," said Wilson-Raybould on Feb. 27.
But Wilson-Raybould said the pressure was not illegal and said she was not instructed to interfere.
TRUDEAU’S DEFEND
Right after Wilson-Raybould’s testimony, the prime minister told mass media that “I strongly maintain as I have from the beginning that I and my staff always acted appropriately and professionally. I therefore completely disagree with the former attorney general’s characterization of events.”
He raised his concern over the potential loss of 9,000 jobs in communities across the country, including the possible impact on pensions, if the SNC-Lavalin is found guilty.
However he emphasized that “the decision around SNC-Lavalin was Ms Wilson-Raybould’s and hers alone.” And “This decision is the attorney general’s alone.”
He also welcomed the investigation by the ethics commissioner of the parliament “to clear the air on this matter” and it’s important that we trust him to do his job.
SCANDAL ESCALATED WITH MUCH CONSEQUENCES ANTICIPATED
Wilson-Raybould says she was later punished by Trudeau, who shoveled her out of the attorney general's post and gave her a lesser appointment in his cabinet. So she resigned over the affair – to become to first high ranking official leaving Trudeau’s cabinet over the scandal.
Then another high-profile cabinet minister, Treasury Board Secretary Jane Philpott, also stepped down after writing a public letter accusing Trudeau of violating the rule of law in Canada.
"It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our attorney-general should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases," Philpott wrote in a letter to Trudeau who did not say a word of thanks for her service.
Situation even worsened when Trudeau’s top political adviser and longtime confidant Gerald Buttshas also resigned over the scandal. He's scheduled to testify about the Lavalin affair before a parliamentary committee. Trudeau thanks him for his service.
Storms are coming not only from his cabinet inside but also from editorial pages and newspapers across Canada and the Conservative Party. The rival is repeatedly calling for his resignation and a new criminal probe.
Justin Trudeau says he's taking scandal, resignations 'seriously'. Even if he survived the resignation to be still in power, the current scandal could open the door to the Conservative Party returning to power in national elections next fall, and it will be hard for him to regain the credibility he needs to push an ambitious agenda on climate change and health care spending.
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