SNC-Lavalin decision left to attorney general: PM

OTTAWA• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould who asked him in the fall if he planned to tell her what to do in the prosecution of Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin — a conversation, he says, that ended with him telling her any decision was hers alone.

The meeting has become a key incident in the controversy over allegations that Wilson- Raybould was subjected to political armtwisting to help the company avoid criminal prosecution.

SNC- Lavalin faces the possibility of being banned from federal contracts for a decade if the company is convicted of bribery and fraud linked to the company’s efforts to secure business in Libya.

At an event in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata Friday, Trudeau talked about the discussions inside his government about the company. He said the conversations were appropriate given the economic effects of a conviction for a company that employs thousands.

“We take very seriously our responsibility of standing up for jobs, of protecting jobs, of growing the economy, of making sure there are good jobs right across the country as there are with SNC-Lavalin. But ... we always need to make sure we’re standing up for the rule of law and protecting the independence of our justice system,” Trudeau said.

“There were many discussions going on. Which is why Jody Wilson-Raybould asked me if I was directing her, or going to direct her, to take a particular decision and I, of course, said no, that it was her decision to make and I expected her to make it. I had full confidence in her role as attorney general to make the decision.”

In January, Wilson- Raybould was moved to the veterans affairs portfolio as part of a shuffle precipitated by former Treasury Board president Scott Brison’s decision to leave politics.

Trudeau said Brison’s sudden resignation from cabinet resulted in having to “move things around” on the team, including shuffling WilsonRaybould — a decision based on what the prime minister vaguely described as “a wide range of factors.”

“If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general,” Trudeau said.

The opposition parties quickly rejected Trudeau’s explanation.

“Every day we’re hearing the prime minister come up with a new excuse, a new explanation, and none of them add up,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in Burnaby, B.C.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel tweeted that she wasn’t sure “what is worse: the inanity of the statement itself, or the arrogance of thinking we’re all stupid enough to buy that pile of garbage.”

Even Brison’s husband, Max St- Pierre, seemed to catch on to the comment, tweeting: “It’s OK, I usually blame my husband for everything too.”