Trudeau explains Lavalin decision
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was former justice minister Jody WilsonRaybould 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 — a key portion of its work — for a decade if the company is convicted of bribery and fraud linked to the company’s efforts to secure business in Libya.
During an event in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata Friday morning, Trudeau talked about the discussions inside his government around the company, including questions asked of him by two different Quebec premiers, representatives of the company and unions and MPs.
Trudeau said the conversations were appropriate given the economic effects of a conviction for a company that employs thousands of people at home and abroad.
He said all those talks led to the fall conversation where WilsonRaybould asked whether Trudeau would be directing her to take a particular decision, particularly whether to strike a remediation deal to let the company pay a fine and bypass criminal charges.
“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 as we do that, 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 October, federal prosecutors rejected the company’s request for the remediation deal.
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 Wilson-Raybould — 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 WilsonRaybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general,” Trudeau said.
The opposition parties quickly rejected Trudeau’s explanation.
New Democrat Nathan Cullen called the comments “utter and total nonsense,” noting on Twitter there was a previous cabinet shuffle in July, the alleged pressure came in the fall, and then Wilson-Raybould “was fired” afterward.
“Brison’s departure wasn’t the cause. It was a convenient excuse,” he wrote.
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 seemed to catch on to the comment. Max St-Pierre tweeted: “It’s ok, I usually blame my husband for everything too.”
Last week, the Globe and Mail reported that Wilson-Raybould felt pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin.