SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian corporate giant with an established history of corruption, is charged with bribing the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's brutal regime over many years, in exchange for lucrative contracts.
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.The SNC-Lavalin affair is a and controversy in Canada involving attempted political interference with the justice system by the, and the (PMO). The 's found that Trudeau improperly influenced then to intervene in an ongoing criminal case against Quebec-based construction company The has maintained that there was no undue pressure or law broken, that offering SNC-Lavalin a (DPA) could save jobs, and that the controversy resulted from a misunderstanding and an 'erosion of trust'.The affair became public when published an article uncovering the allegations on 7 February 2019, shortly after Wilson-Raybould had been shuffled to another cabinet position. Four days later, Ethics Commissioner Dion announced he would investigate the allegations. Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet later that day.
This was followed by the resignation of, the Principal Secretary to Trudeau. This was then followed by the resignation of fellow cabinet minister, over the government's handling of the affair. The House of Commons' held three hearings into the affair. Wilson-Raybould, Butts, and, testified before the committee. Wilson-Raybould said there was a breach of prosecutorial independence when members of the government pressured her to offer SNC-Lavalin a DPA instead of continuing with a criminal prosecution.
Butts and Wernick testified that they had contacted Wilson-Raybould to find a 'political solution' after the decision to not offer SNC-Lavalin a DPA was made. Controversially, Wilson-Raybould revealed that she had secretly recorded a conversation she had with Wernick while she was Attorney General.Following the hearings, Wernick announced his early retirement from the Privy Council. Called for Trudeau's resignation.
He further accused Trudeau of political interference, lying to Canadians, and corrupt conduct. Trudeau responded to those comments with a threat of a libel lawsuit through his lawyer. Opposition parties and former attorneys-general asked the (RCMP) to investigate whether Trudeau's conduct qualifies as.
In April, Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were expelled by Trudeau from the Liberal caucus.After a six-month-long investigation, Ethics Commissioner Dion issued a report that concluded that Trudeau had contravened Section 9 of the federal Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring Wilson-Raybould. Dion wrote that while Wilson-Raybould was never officially directed to interfere, this influence was 'tantamount to political direction'. Dion did not find that any actual political interference in the prosecution occurred, however, he reported he did not have access to all of the evidence.
Under the Act, there are no sanctions specified for the violation. After the commissioner's report was released, the Prime Minister released a statement both taking responsibility for his actions and defending himself. The opposition leaders have called for further investigations. The former to Justin TrudeauOn 6 March 2019, the Justice Committee held a hearing on the claims, at which Butts testified.
Butts, who had been implicated in the affair by Wilson-Raybould at the previous hearing, served as the to Trudeau in the PMO.During his testimony, Butts said that he did not want to discredit Wilson-Raybould's testimony, but wanted to offer his own 'different version of events'. He stated he believed that 'nothing inappropriate occurred' and that 'nothing inappropriate was alleged to have occurred until after the cabinet shuffle'. Butts said that any conversations between Wilson-Raybould and officials in the PMO were intended only to ensure that she understood the full potential impact of a criminal conviction of SNC-Lavalin, and that at no time did anyone in the PMO attempt to influence Wilson-Raybould's decision.
'It was not about second-guessing the decision. It was about ensuring that the attorney general was making her decision with the absolute best evidence possible', Butts testified. Butts also testified that he believed a period of twelve days was too compressed for such an important decision.Butts further stated that no concerns were raised by Wilson-Raybould until after 12 January cabinet shuffle had occurred: 'If this was wrong, and wrong in the way it is alleged to have been wrong, why are we having this discussion now and not in the middle of September, or October, or November, or December?'
Liberal members of the committee defeated a motion to produce all government communications between Butts and other parties mentioned in the SNC-Lavalin affair.At the hearing, Wernick testified for a second time, and stated that the decision to consider a DPA is never final, and that he was only reminding Wilson-Raybould to take public interest considerations into account.Deputy Justice Minister Nathalie Drouin also testified at the hearing. When asked, Drouin stated that it was not for her to say if the time taken for the due diligence review was adequate or not, and that she was not part of the due diligence exercise carried out by Wilson-Raybould regarding this case.
Drouin also replied that 'It's the responsibility of a prosecutor to assess and reassess. In light of new facts and evidence put in front of the prosecutor.'
Drouin also said that at the end of October 2018, the Privy Council Office (PCO) asked her department for advice on the potential impact on SNC-Lavalin if a deferred prosecution agreement was not pursued. That advice was 'not provided to PCO at the request of the minister's office'.Following Butts' testimony, Trudeau gave a press conference in Ottawa on 7 March. He again denied all allegations of inappropriate or illegal pressure, and said that an 'erosion of trust' and 'breakdown in communications' had developed between him, his staff and the former Attorney General. Trudeau also confirmed that during a 17 September meeting he asked Wilson-Raybould to 'revisit her decision' not to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with SNC-Lavalin, and asked his staff to follow up regarding Wilson-Raybould's final decision. Hearing on 13 March 2019 During the Committee hearing, Liberal blocked an effort by opposition party members to immediately invite Wilson-Raybould back to speak further about the government's effort to put pressure on her, despite the former justice minister's willingness to testify again. Instead, Liberal members voted to reconvene the Justice Committee on 19 March to consider whether to invite Wilson-Raybould and other senior government officials to testify. Conclusion of Justice Committee hearings On 19 March 2019, the Justice Committee held an in-camera meeting where Liberal members introduced and passed a motion to end any further probe into the SNC-Lavalin scandal, indicating that they preferred to leave any remaining investigation to the ethics commissioner.
In a written letter to the committee chair, the Liberal members stated that 'No witness was prevented from providing evidence on any relevant information during the period covered by the waiver', and concluded that 'Canadians can judge for themselves the facts, the perspectives and relevant legal principles'. In total, the Justice Committee held eleven meetings over five weeks, accumulating thirteen hours of testimony from ten different witnesses. The committee did not hear from some individuals implicated in the controversy by Wilson-Raybould, including Katie Telford (Trudeau's chief of staff) and senior staffers, Elder Marques, and Mathieu Bouchard. The and (NDP) also maintain that Wilson-Raybould should have been called back to committee to respond to testimony from Wernick and Butts. Further submissions from Wilson-Raybould On 29 March, the Justice Committee released a recording, made secretly by Wilson-Raybould, of the telephone call between her and Wernick that took place on 19 December 2018. In it, Wernick told Wilson-Raybould that Trudeau wanted a DPA for SNC-Lavalin 'one way or another'.
Wilson-Raybould responded that the request was inappropriate political interference in the justice system and that she was not comfortable having the conversation. The recording was accompanied by a submission of forty pages supplementing her original testimony, including copies of texts and emails, outlining Wilson-Raybould's view of events and their implications for prosecutorial independence.
In her submission, she also explained that her decision to resign from the cabinet was prompted by Trudeau's suggestion the day earlier that 'her continued presence in his cabinet speaks for itself'.The PMO responded that Wernick never briefed Trudeau on this conversation. Wernick said that he did not brief the Prime Minister on the call due to the Holiday season break, and that he never discussed SNC again with the PMO until the story was leaked in early February. Reactions and aftermath On 11 February 2019, after mounting pressure from the Conservatives and NDP, Mario Dion, the Parliament of Canada's Ethics Commissioner, launched a federal investigation into the alleged interference. The scope of the ethics review is to look into any possible contravention of rules prohibiting public office holders from using their position to influence decisions that could further another person's private interest., the leader of the, called for an independent, RCMP-led investigation into the allegations, stating that the 'Ethics Commissioner is not the right place to seek such an inquiry; neither is the justice committee'. Following the Justice Committee hearings on 27 February, called for Trudeau's resignation, saying that he had 'lost the moral authority to govern'.
On 28 February, Scheer sent a letter to RCMP Commissioner, calling for an investigation into Trudeau's actions in relation to the controversy. Five former attorneys-general called on the RCMP to investigate possible.On 11 March, the Working Group on Bribery, of which Canada is a member, wrote to the Canadian government outlining its concerns about potential political interference in the case, and saying that it would 'closely monitor investigations into the SNC-Lavalin affair by the House of Commons justice committee and the federal ethics commissioner'. The Working Group did clarify it had no reason to doubt the approach the Canadian government is taking, and noted Canada's willingness to keep it fully informed of the proceedings at its next meeting in June 2019.On 18 March, Trudeau announced that former Deputy Prime Minister would serve as a Special Advisor to examine whether a single minister should continue to hold the positions of Minister of Justice and Attorney General. The advisor would also analyze the current roles, policies, and practices of government officials who interact with the Attorney General. McLellan was to report her recommendations to the Prime Minister by 30 June 2019.Following the 19 March Justice Committee meeting, opposition parties asked the House of Commons to launch its own investigation into the affair, and called for Wilson-Raybould to testify at the committee by no later than 27 March. This motion was defeated on 26 March by the Liberal majority on the committee.
The Conservative Party protested the decision of the Justice Committee to conclude its proceedings by forcing an all-night session of the House of Commons.On 20 March, the CEO of SNC-Lavalin, Neil Bruce, stated in an interview with The Globe and Mail that the company was 'fully reformed' and 'does not understand why it was not given a deal'. Bruce said that Canadians had appeared to have 'given up' on SNC-Lavalin and that the general public does not understand the potential economic consequences of a ten-year ban on federal contracts. On 28 March, a presentation was obtained by which described SNC-Lavalin's 'Plan B' if they could not secure a remediation agreement.
The plan, provided to Public Prosecution Service of Canada last fall, included moving its Montreal headquarters to the United States within a year, reducing its workforce, and eventually winding down Canadian operations. A spokesperson for the company confirmed its authenticity, calling it a 'confidential document' and maintaining that a DPA is 'the best way to protect and grow the almost 9,000 direct Canadian SNC-Lavalin jobs, as well as thousands of indirect jobs'.On 7 April 2019, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer made public a letter he had received on 31 March from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's lawyer, which threatened a libel suit regarding statements Scheer made on 29 March that accused Trudeau of political interference, lying to Canadians, and corrupt conduct. Scheer stood by his comments, describing the letter as an 'intimidation tactic' and saying, 'If Mr. Trudeau believes he has a case against me, I urge him to follow through on his threat immediately.'
Leaked information regarding Supreme Court recommendation On 25 March 2019, CTV News reported that there was a conflict between Wilson-Raybould and Trudeau in 2017 when Trudeau disagreed with a recommendation by Wilson-Raybould to appoint to the Supreme Court of Canada, replacing as the. The report suggests the Prime Minister could have had reasons unrelated to the SNC-Lavalin affair for moving Wilson-Raybould out of the Justice portfolio. Wilson-Raybould denied there was any conflict with Trudeau over the Supreme Court recommendation. Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould both condemned the leaks and denied that they were the source.The launched an investigation into the leak of confidential information on 4 April, after receiving a request from opposition parties.
The investigation will include organizations covered by the, such as the Privy Council Office and the Department of Justice. The Privacy Act covers neither ministerial offices nor the PMO. Resignations Gerald Butts resigned as the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Trudeau on 18 February 2019. When resigning, he denied that Wilson-Raybould had been pressured, saying that the accusation that he had pressured Wilson-Raybould was distracting from the work of the PMO., the, resigned from her post in Trudeau's cabinet on 4 March. In her statement she said that she had 'lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised'. Philpott was considered to be one of Trudeau's most trusted ministers.Michael Wernick announced on 18 March that he would be retiring ahead of schedule from his position as the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet 'due to recent events', namely the erosion of trust and being seen as partisan; which would affect the civil service as a whole and cast doubt on his position should an opposition party form the next government.
On 18 April, Wernick retired as Privy Council clerk. Party expulsions On 29 March, CBC published an article saying that the Liberal caucus in the House of Commons was planning to vote on expelling Wilson-Raybould and Philpott.
Caucus members said they did not think Wilson-Raybould and Philpott could remain party members, 'given the damage done to the government by the SNC-Lavalin affair'. Liberal MPs criticized Wilson-Raybould's release of the phone call recording, with describing it as 'fundamentally wrong' and the former under, calling it 'about as low as you can go'. Prime Minister Trudeau did not state a position on the vote, saying, 'As for what Dr. Philpott and Ms. Wilson-Raybould intend to do as next steps, people are going to have to ask them'.
The day the vote was scheduled to proceed, Wilson-Raybould wrote a letter to the caucus arguing that she should remain a member, saying 'Ultimately the choice that is before you is about what kind of party you want to be a part of, what values it will uphold, the vision that animates it, and indeed the type of people it will attract and make it up.' Ultimately, no recorded caucus vote was held.Trudeau expelled Wilson-Raybould and Philpott from the Liberal Caucus on 2 April 2019. He also removed Wilson-Raybould and Philpott as the Liberal party candidates for and respectively in the. At a press conference, Trudeau said that trust between the two women and the rest of the Liberal caucus had been broken, calling Wilson-Raybould's recording 'unconscionable'. He also talked about the danger of 'civil wars within parties', saying 'Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided.
We can't afford to make that mistake. Canadians are counting on us.'
After she was informed of the decision, Wilson-Raybould stated she has no regrets, and did what she thought 'needed to be done based on principles and values that must always transcend party'. On the same day, Philpott said she was 'stunned' at having been expelled without being given a chance to speak to the national caucus, and that the attacks on her and Wilson Raybould had been based on 'inaccuracies and falsehoods'.The decision was condemned by all opposition parties, with Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer calling it a 'betrayal of justice' and saying that people who blow the whistle on misconduct should be protected, not punished. NDP Leader said that Wilson-Raybould tried to 'put integrity and what's right for Canadians over what helps the Liberals' and that she 'deserved better'. Green Party leader Elizabeth May said Wilson-Raybould had shown honour and integrity in her work, and that 'the laws weren't broken because she held firm'. The day after the expulsions, about fifty young women in the House of Commons as part of a delegation of, a youth leadership event, turned their backs on Trudeau in protest during his speech to the delegation.In May 2019, Wilson-Raybould and Philpott announced their intentions to run as independent candidates for the 2019 federal election. In an interview with the New York Times, Trudeau maintained his innocence in the matter and suggested that the severity of the issue had been overly exaggerated, stating that 'the media and opposition were being distracted with this internal dispute that has been invented and amplified.'
Ethics Commissioner's report Mario Dion, the Parliament of Canada's Ethics Commissioner, began an investigation in March. On 14 August 2019, he released a report that concluded Trudeau had contravened section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring Wilson-Raybould. The report details lobbying efforts by SNC-Lavalin to influence prosecution since at least February 2016, including the lobbying efforts to enact DPA legislation. The report analyses SNC-Lavalin's interests and finds that the lobbying effort advanced private interests of the company, rather then public interests. Dion concluded that Wilson-Raybould had resisted the improper pressure put upon her and he did not find any political interference in the prosecution. He noted that he did not have complete information about the case as the Privy Council would not release nine witnesses that claimed to have information about the case.The report's analysis section discusses the topics of prosecutorial independence and Shawcross doctrine (dual role of Attorney General) to draw the conclusion that the influence was improper and a violation of the Conflict of Interest Act.
However, some legal analysts, such as Errol Mendes, professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa, veteran attorney David Hamer, and Kenneth Jull, adjunct law professor at the University of Toronto and advisor at Toronto business law firm Gardiner Roberts, disagreed with Dion's interpretation and suggested that the report may have overreached in its findings.An emergency meeting of the House of Commons Ethics Committee to discuss the report further was scheduled for 21 August 2019. A motion by the Opposition to have Dion testify before the Committee was defeated 5-4, with only Liberal MP breaking with the Liberal majority on the Committee. An additional motion by the NDP to have Trudeau himself testify, along with Finance Minister Bill Morneau and former chief of staff Ben Chin, was also defeated.The Ethics Commissioner does not have the jurisdiction to impose sanctions for such a violation. Responding to the report, Trudeau said he accepted it and took responsibility but disagreed with its findings. Scheer renewed his calls for a RCMP investigation, while May and Singh reiterated their calls for an inquiry. A RCMP spokesperson declined to confirm or deny whether an investigation is underway, saying that the police force is carefully reviewing the facts and will take 'appropriate actions as required'.After the report was made public, Wilson-Raybould released a statement saying it is a vindication of her positions on prosecutorial independence and the role of Attorney General. She stated that the report confirms that she acted appropriately at all times and that the staff of the Prime Minister's office acted improperly.
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On the day the report was released, Wilson-Raybould told a reporter she had not been contacted by the RCMP. The following day, she clarified that while she had not been contacted by the RCMP since the release of the Ethics Commissioner's report, she had been contacted by the police force concerning the affair earlier in the spring.On the same day as the commissioner's report, Anne McLellan's companion report on whether to separate the roles of Minister of Justice and Attorney General (MoJAG) was made public. It recommended keeping the position combined as it has been since Confederation. McLellan recommended various changes and clarifications to protocols and communications, ask the Attorney General to explain decisions to direct or not direct prosecutions, explicitly note the independence of the Attorney General in law, educate parliamentarians, update the Department of Justice Act and change the name of the to the Department of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of Canada.Subsequent to the release of the report, Trudeau addressed the claims, saying that he took “full responsibility” for how the case was handled, but would not apologize for protecting Canadian jobs.
Ian Lee, professor at, and Philip Cross, fellow at the, have disputed Trudeau's jobs claims, saying that even if SNC-Lavalin was banned from bidding on federal contracts it would be able to continue to bid on provincial and municipal projects and other companies winning federal contracts would employ Canadian workers. Michel Nadeau, former deputy cheif of said it was unlikely SNC-Lavalin would move its headquarters from. Quebec Premier, welcomed Trudeau's statements saying it is important for the Prime Minister to protect well-paying jobs. See also.References.