Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony today before the House of Commons justice committee will be “pivotal,” opposition MP says.
Will testify, but waiver restricts full discussion, former minister says
Jody Wilson-Raybould — poised to break her silence Wednesday — is warning that the waiver provided by the government to speak “falls short of what is required” to fully respond to allegations she was pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to intervene in criminal proceedings against SNC-Lavalin.
In a letter sent to the Commons’ justice committee Tuesday, Wilson-Raybould cautions the waiver to solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidences only applies to her time as attorney general, a post she was shuffled out of in January.
The waiver — formally provided Monday — “does nothing to release me from any restrictions that apply to communications while I served as Minister of Veterans Affairs and in relation to my resignation from that post or my presentation to Cabinet after I had resigned,” Wilson-Raybould states in her letter.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Justice Minister David Lametti portrayed the waiver as an example of their government’s transparency on the controversy.
But Wilson-Raybould’s response underscores that she is still barred from speaking freely.
“I mention this simply to alert the Committee to the fact that the Order in Council leaves in place whatever restraints there are on my ability to speak freely about matters that occurred after I left the post of Attorney General,” she wrote.
The former justice minister will begin her testimony before the Commons justice committee at 3:15 p.m. starting with a 30-minute statement to MPs.
“While that time period will certainly not provide sufficient time for to provide a ‘full complete version of events,’ it will permit at least a reasonably detailed summary of them,” Wilson-Raybould wrote.
Trudeau said earlier in the day that he’s “pleased” Wilson-Raybould will be able to tell her version of events around allegations she was pressured over the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.
“It is important that people get an opportunity to testify or share their point of view with the committee. As we said, waiving privilege, waiving cabinet confidentiality is something that we had to take very seriously but I’m pleased that Ms. Wilson-Raybould is going to be able to share her perspective,” Trudeau told reporters Tuesday as he headed into a morning cabinet meeting.
Any charge of judicial interference by Wilson-Raybould would heap further political woes on Trudeau’s government, perhaps force yet further inquiries — beyond the Commons’ committee and ethics commissioner ongoing probes — and even trigger a police investigation, if one isn’t already underway.
“Her testimony is pivotal,” NDP MP Nathan Cullen said.
Wilson-Raybould’s testimony comes as a new poll reveals that the Liberals and Trudeau himself are already facing a political backlash for the controversy.
Two-thirds of Canadians believe there is a deeper scandal in the Prime Minister’s Office, according to polling done by the Angus Reid Institute, a not-forprofit public opinion research organization.
Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s principal secretary, resigned last week while denying allegations there was any inappropriate pressure put on Wilson-Raybould.
Still, there’s a “sinking” feeling among Liberal voters “that there’s more to come, that it’s not over, that more issues are going to reveal themselves,” said Shachi Kurl, the institute’s executive director.
Sixty per cent of Canadians say they have an unfavourable view of the prime minister and roughly the same number say their opinion has worsened over the last month, according to the online survey of1,009 Canadians done between Feb. 2124. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
While much of Trudeau’s negative polling is driven by rightof-centre voters, almost 30 per cent of Liberal supporters have aworse opinion of Trudeau. His rivals don’t fare much better — 54 per cent have an unfavourable opinion of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and 64 per cent for New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh.
In the best case scenario for the Liberals, Wilson-Raybould’s testimony on Wednesday clears the air and allows the government to focus on other issues, Kurl said.
“It really comes down to what she says and the credibility factor,” she said.
“Do people believe it and are they then mollified and want to move on ... or does it continue to flame?”