Conflicting testimonies and more resignations
The SNC-Lavalin affair is the scandal that keeps on giving, and the increasingly dramatic and complicated developments over the past few weeks have generated a persistent swarm of media attention around the Parliamentary precinct. This article covers some of the main developments since Trudeau’s former principal secretary, Gerald (Gerry) Butts, resigned on Feb. 18 after allegations that he was part of an effort to interfere with the criminal prosecution of the Montreal-based construction giant SNC-Lavalin.
The story picks up again when former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould gave an explosive testimony at the Justice and Human Rights Committee (JUST) on Feb. 27, two weeks after stepping down from cabinet. In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould corroborated the allegations made in the bombshell Globe and Mail article from Feb. 7, that members of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), including Butts, had inappropriately pressured her to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with SNC-Lavalin. Specifically, she described a “consistent and sustained effort” from the PMO to “politically interfere” with the situation. Negotiating a DPA would help SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution and a possible criminal conviction, which would prevent it from bidding for government contracts. SNC-Lavalin has been charged with bribery and corruption by the RCMP for illegal activity in Libya between 2004 and 2011.
The day after Wilson-Raybould’s testimony, the newly unemployed Butts came forward to request that he also be allowed to tell his side of the story. He did so by writing a letter (which he later tweeted) to Anthony Housefather, the chair of JUST, claiming that he had evidence relevant to the committee. Before Butts was able to testify, Trudeau announced another cabinet shuffle — the second in as many months — to account for Wilson-Raybould leaving her new cabinet position as minister of veterans’ affairs. The first shuffle, which occured on Jan. 14, followed the resignation of Treasury Board President Scott Brison and saw Wilson-Raybould moved (some say demoted) to minister of veterans’ affairs from minister of justice and attorney general. This shuffle also saw Jane Philpott, former minister of health and minister of Indigenous services, made the president of the Treasury Board, to replace Brison.
On March 4, just days after the second shuffle, Philpott followed suit from Wilson-Raybould and also resigned from cabinet. She stated in her public resignation letter that she has “lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter,” referring to the SNC-Lavalin affair. Two days later, on March 6, Butts testified before JUST and told a “very different version of events” than that relayed by Wilson-Raybould the week prior. Butts defied Wilson-Raybould’s accusations by saying that the PMO did not pressure her to negotiate a DPA with SNC-Lavalin. He also acknowledged that the cabinet shuffle on Jan. 14 resulted in a breakdown of trust between Wilson-Raybould and the PMO. Interestingly, Butts mentioned that Trudeau did not initially want to make Wilson-Raybould minister of veterans’ affairs, but instead minister of Indigenous services. However, Wilson-Raybould apparently refused the position, because she could not honour her Indigenous history by working on Indian Act programming.
To add insult to injury, well-liked Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes has come forward with claims that Trudeau “met her with hostility” when she told him that she would not run for re-election this October. Caesar-Chavannes has voiced support for Wilson-Raybould, but has said that her decision not to run again is unrelated to the SNC-Lavalin affair. Caesar-Chavannes’ announcement, coupled with the resignation of two prominent and respected female cabinet ministers has not reflected well on Trudeau. Both Trudeau and the Liberal party have taken a hit in recent polls, according to CBC Poll Tracker. It is unclear where things will go from here, and whether the Liberals will end up negotiating a DPA with SNC-Lavalin, but one thing is certain — Trudeau has a lot of work to do to recover some of his old popularity leading up to this October.
Featured photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons