No upside for any Liberal in escalating this fight
HOWEVER, WILSON-RAYBOULD STILL THREATENING TO HAVE HER SAY
The self-preservation instinct has kicked in for members of the governing Liberal party.
Prior to the regular caucus meeting Wednesday, MPS warned darkly of a potential riot by unhappy backbenchers.
But after former justice minister Jody Wilson-raybould addressed the weekly gathering, MPS emerged to proclaim themselves satisfied with the situation. “It was immensely respectful,” said one MP.
Honourable members in the unfamiliar surroundings of West Block walked into closets, as they sought sanctuary from the glare of the cameras on the way out.
Even Ralph Goodale found himself trying to exit through a fire escape — apparently in his 30 years on Parliament Hill, he was never based in West Block so requires a GPS to navigate, like the rest of us who have been relocated during renovations to Centre Block.
He was more vocal than most of his colleagues, saying he did not believe that undue influence had been exerted on Wilson-raybould and that the whole Snc-lavalin saga might come down to a difference of interpretation — presumably between Wilson-raybould and Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary, Gerald Butts.
The closing of Liberal ranks makes sense. There was frustration in cabinet and in caucus at the bush-league way the SNC file has been handled — and at the failure to communicate with MPS. A new Leger poll found 41 per cent of Canadians think the prime minister has done something wrong and another 41 per cent aren’t sure. Many Liberal MPS would fall into the latter group — hence their insistence that Wilson-raybould was allowed to speak to them.
We don’t know what was said but the mood was noticeably calmer on the way out than it was on the way in.
We do know that Trudeau apologized to Wilson-raybould for not condemning in unequivocal terms the comments and cartoons in which she was disparaged. “They were absolutely unacceptable and I should have done it sooner,” he said.
If that was intended as a peace token, it was only partially accepted.
Wilson-raybould later abstained from a vote in the House calling for a public inquiry into the affair because she deemed herself to be in a conflict of interest. “I understand fully that Canadians want to know the truth and want transparency. Privilege and confidentiality are not mine to waive, and I hope that I have the opportunity to speak my truth,” she said, portentously.
But there is no upside for any Liberal, including Wilson-raybould, in escalating this fight.
She wants the opportunity to have her say in public, which she will get at the Commons justice committee next week. But we can probably expect a tighter version of events than might have been the case if she had been exiled by Trudeau.
Aside from her personal political ambitions, she is more aware than most of a point made by Liberal MP Robert Falcon-ouellette at a recent caucus meeting, when he said this government is all in on the Indigenous file and that if it doesn’t get it right, no government in the near future is ever going to take it on again.
In question period, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer noted that the director of public prosecutions announced on Sept. 4 last year that her office would not negotiate a remediation deal with Snc-lavalin; that on Sept. 17, it came up at a meeting between the then-attorney general and Trudeau; and that on Dec. 5, Wilson-raybould met Butts to discuss the issue.
Did the prime minister express support for the idea that SNC qualified for a deal, effectively ending the criminal prosecution, Scheer asked.
There was, needless to say, no answer at the end of it all — Trudeau repeated his mantra of the day, that his government defended jobs while respecting the integrity of the justice system.
But, on the available information, it would seem the meeting between the then-attorney general and Butts on Dec. 5 is at the heart of the matter.
Butts believed it was reasonable for cabinet to consider a policy option that would potentially protect thousands of jobs at Snc-lavalin, which is facing being barred from Canadian federal contracts for 10 years if convicted on corruption charges.
What we don’t know is how forcibly he expressed that opinion to Wilson-raybould. He denies categorically that he or anyone else in the Prime Minister’s Office pressured her. “We honoured the unique role of the attorney general,” he said in his resignation statement Monday.
We may find out next week if Wilson-raybould has the same recollection of events. It seems clear she felt obliged to discount the political and economic consequences of a continued prosecution in her decision not to intervene.
Another thing we do know is that the system worked: the prosecution of SNC is proceeding, pending an appeal by the company.
Yet, we may be reaching the denouement of a drama that has dominated the na- tional political stage for two weeks. For the government it has been a tragedy, for the opposition a comedy.
Mel Brooks was talking about physical farce when he defined the difference, but it applies equally to politics. “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”
The Liberal caucus has indicated it has had enough of being laughed at, and reminded Trudeau they are the source of much of his power.
For all his talk about empowering MPS, his caucus management has, by many accounts, been abysmal. MPS rarely get an audience with their leader and the Hill Times reported that some have been shut down in the weekly caucus meeting by the prime minister because he didn’t agree with their views.
Trudeau’s failure to reassure Canadians gave birth to sedition in caucus but Liberals appear to have come together to bury the hatchet.
The suspicion is it may end up being buried in the back of Gerald Butts, as he exits the political stage.