Liberal hopes are slim without JWR
Can Jody Wilson-Raybould stay in the Liberal caucus? That’s a question on the minds of many Canadians, but especially that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who must decide.
How it’s answered could, more than anything else, determine Liberal fortunes in the fall federal election. JWR, for her part, says she intends to re-offer as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Granville. The Prime Minister whose reputation was sullied by her testimony must, as leader of the party, endorse her Liberal candidacy.
Last week, during that compelling testimony before the Commons’ justice committee, the former Attorney General wouldn’t say if she still has confidence in the Prime Minister. That, plus the disagreement between what the PM calls her “characterization” of events and his own would, in normal circumstances, earn Wilson-Raybould a one-way ticket out of caucus.
But these are not normal circumstances.
This story is a long way from told, but the heroic protagonist has been established and, barring the unlikely appearance of irrefutable evidence to cast doubt on her version of events, that’s not about to change.
During her almost four hours at the committee, Wilson-Raybould meticulously detailed a monthslong effort mostly from the PMO to “find a solution” that would save SNC-Lavalin from criminal prosecution on bribery and corruption charges.
There was only one solution, and it required then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to overturn a decision by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to proceed with the criminal case, and not offer SNC-Lavalin the deferred prosecution the company sought and the PMO supported.
Wilson-Raybould reviewed the DPP’s memo, did her own “due diligence” and determined that she would respect the independent decision of the prosecutor. Once she communicated that decision to the PM, it should have been case closed, but it wasn’t.
She still had to withstand relentless pressure to intercede on behalf of SNC-Lavalin, including what she saw as veiled threats about her own future in a late-December discussion with Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council. JWR was removed as Justice Minister and Attorney General at the first opportunity.
JWR rooted her decision – and its finality – in her legal training, time as a prosecutor and her indigenous upbringing that taught her to “hold true to your core values and principles and to act with integrity.”
With the public airing of these events, Jody Wilson-Raybould has become the ethical touchstone of the federal Liberal Party, and without her they have none.
Parliament is on a two-week recess, so MPs are back on home turf where Liberals will be taking the pulse of their constituents to determine whether there’s life left in their own political careers.
The Prime Minister should hear from them before making any decision about JWR’s future as a Liberal.
If, as seems likely, Liberals determine their chances of re-election are improved with JWR on the ticket, where does that leave the Prime Minister?
To date, the government’s strategy to manage this scandal is a nuanced rebuttal. The PMO, so the story goes, was fighting for SNCLavalin jobs, which JWR misinterpreted as political pressure.
When Trudeau’s former principal secretary Gerry Butts appears before the justice committee this week, Canadians will discover whether that strategy will be sustained. Butts, in his letter of resignation, promised a defense against the interference charges. If that means an attack on JWR’s credibility, it signals that she’s on her way out of caucus. If he is conciliatory, the government is looking for an avenue to reconciliation.
The Prime Minister and his staff could not reconcile their political imperative to save SNCLavalin from prosecution with the principled refusal of Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to allow political interference in a criminal case.
A much greater act of reconciliation is required of the Prime Minister to restore a semblance of order and ethics to his government. The Prime Minister’s contention that he and his office acted “appropriately and professionally” in its dealings with JWR on the SNC-Lavalin file doesn’t square with her more precise and therefore believable take on the same events.
As it now stands, JWR’s place in the Liberal caucus is precarious. If she is to remain, and if the Liberals are to benefit from her presence, the Prime Minister needs to bring her fully back into the fold, and that will require an admission that his office was overzealous in its effort to save SNC-Lavalin from prosecution.
The Prime Minister must trade his lofty rhetoric about reconciliation for a personal act. She was right, and he and his trusted political staff were wrong, and he needs to say it.
How he explains firing an Attorney General whose only fault was standing firm against political pressure from the PMO is a political problem that will require more creative minds than mine.