Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada are in the middle of a groundbreaking scandal. Two key members of his cabinet have resigned, citing alleged political interference in an active prosecution involving a multinational corporation. The Liberal members of the Justice Committee forcefully adjourning an emergency meeting with their majority vote, leading members of the opposition to make accusations of a government cover-up. And most recently, a spokesman for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Working Group on Bribery has stated that “…all alarms are sounding..” as a result of this scandal.
This whole scandal started in 2015 when SNC-Lavalin was charged with bribing foreign government officials in order to secure government contracts. Recently this year, the Globe and Mail reported that Justin Trudeau may have politically pressured Jody Wilson-Raybould, former attorney general of Canada, to seek a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin even after she had made up her mind. Because of this, many have charged Trudeau with breaking the trust that Canadians have in the independence of the justice system.
The Opposition has been repeatedly calling for Justin Trudeau to allow Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify freely. Justin Trudeau has not done so. Because of her key role in this scandal, many are calling out Justin Trudeau for actively engaging in a cover-up, hiding from the truth, and trying to avoid the consequences for his actions. Surely this is not how Canadians want to be represented on the world stage.
What is the Liberal Defense?
The Liberal Party of Canada does not deny that they had put pressure on Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was Attorney General at the time. SNC-Lavalin is a huge firm that employs thousands of people across Canada. If found guilty, SNC-Lavalin would be barred from federal contracts for 10 years. They argue that this would effectively shut down their operations in Canada for the next decade, putting those thousands of workers at risk. At a time when the Canadian economy is so fragile, it is important to keep these jobs afloat. If Wilson-Raybould decided that a deferred prosecution agreement was needed, then SNC-Lavalin would get off with only a fine and would still be allowed to bid on government contracts. They believe this could save thousands of jobs. Because of this, it was appropriate for the Prime Minister to pressure the former attorney general of Canada.
However, it is not clear to why the Liberals are not allowing Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify with cabinet privilege waived. It’s reasonable to assume that the Trudeau government has something to hide if they are not allowing Wilson-Raybould to speak on certain parts of her time in cabinet.
Why the Liberal Defense Doesn’t Make Sense
There are two main stances taken by the opposition. Firstly, that no matter how big the firm, they should not be allowed to break the law and get away with it. As allowing such, would set a two-tier justice system where the rich play by one set of rules and the poor play by another. The opposition argue that this is exactly what the Trudeau government tried to create by pressuring the then attorney general to reconsider her decision on SNC-Lavalin. The fact that Trudeau is being accused of such is quite surprising as he ran on a platform of “sunny ways” and to do things differently than other politicians. So far, it seems that under his government the skies are getting cloudier and cloudier around him.
Secondly, the opposition argues that the economic impact of SNC-Lavalin being found guilty is fairly minimal. SNC-Lavalin has a 7-year agreement with a Quebec pension fund to stay in Montreal. They also have a 20-year lease on their headquarters, which they have just recently completed renovations on. The opposition also argues that as a construction firm, if SNC-Lavalin does not take on government contracts other firms will, meaning that the jobs created by this construction firm are simply shifted to other places. With these two examples, it seems the argument that the economic impact of SNC-Lavalin being found guilty is uncertain at best.
So if the argument that SNC-Lavalin should not go to trial because of its impact on the economy is not nearly as strong as Justin Trudeau makes it out to be, how come he and his staff put political pressure upon the former attorney general? This is a question that Canadians still do not know the answer to. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have been actively engaging in a strategy to distract and
Canadians need to know what occurred behind closed doors from the viewpoint of all parties involved. Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s right-hand man, has already come out and testified on all parts of the scandal. However, Trudeau has only allowed Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify on the time that she served as attorney general. If Canadians
Let her speak.