A look at some of the key players in the scandal that has rocked Ottawa,
Get to know some of the key figures mentioned by Wilson-Raybould
Clerk of the Privy Council
A major player in the SNCLavalin controversy is the Clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick. The country’s top bureaucrat, the clerk is a deputy minister to the prime minister and provides impartial advice as an unelected civil servant.
Wilson-Raybould talks at length about a conversation that she had with the privy clerk, stating in her opening remarks that the incident culminated Dec. 19 following a phone conversation with Wernick. Gerald Butts A key player in the SNC-Lavalin affair is Gerald Butts, a political consultant and close confidant of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Butts served as a principal secretary to Trudeau from November 2015, until his resignation on Feb. 18.
Butts has worked closely with Trudeau in various capacities since 2012. The two are longtime friends, and Butts is often considered by critics to be a major player behind the Liberals’ political strategy.
In her opening statement, Wilson-Raybould stated she met with Butts on Dec. 5, 2018. She alleges that Butts sought a solution to the “SNC stuff,” noting that she previously “raised how I needed everyone to stop talking to me about SNC as I had made up my mind and the engagements were inappropriate.” Jessica Prince
Chief of staff to Wilson-Raybould, Prince has remained a confidant to the former min- ister of justice since her hiring in May 2018. Prince followed Wilson-Raybould during a recent cabinet shuffle that saw Wilson-Raybould transitioned to minister of Veterans Affairs, though she has been on leave from Wilson-Raybould’s staff since January. Wilson-Raybould stated that on Dec. 18, 2018, her chief of staff Jessica Prince was “urgently summoned” to meet with Butts and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Katie Telford. Wilson-Raybould stated in her opening remarks Wednesday that Butts and Telford sought to discuss SNC-Lavalin. Katie Telford
Katie Telford is the current chief of staff to the prime minister, a role that she has occupied since the Liberals came to power in 2015. Elder Marques and Mathieu Bouchard
Marques is a senior adviser to the prime minister, taking the role after a cabinet shuffle in September 2017. Previously, he served as chief of staff to Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. Mathieu Bouchard is a senior adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office, a role he has held since the Liberals’ election in 2015.
In her opening remarks, Wilson-Raybould recalls a Sept. 16 phone call between Prince, Marques, and Bouchard.
The two are alleged to have contacted Prince to “discuss SNC,” stating that “they understand that there are limits on what can be done, and that they can’t direct, but that they hear that our deputy minister (of justice) thinks we can get the PPSC (Public Prosecution Service of Canada) to say ‘we think we should get some outside advice on this,’ ” Wilson-Raybould said. Nathalie Drouin Drouin was appointed deputy minister of justice by Trudeau in June 2017. In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould notes that Drouin “was working on something” related to the requests made by the Prime Minister’s Office to address the SNC-Lavalin prosecution. Kathleen Roussel Roussel is the director of pub- lic prosecutions, a role she was appointed to in June 2017. Also referred to as the DPP, the office is responsible for prosecuting federal criminal offences.
In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould says that Roussel prepared a memorandum for the attorney general, which she received on September, 4 2018. “The only parts of this note that I will disclose are as follows: ‘The DPP is of the view that an invitation to negotiate will not be made in this case and that no announcement will be made by the PPSC.’ ”
The DPP is responsible for providing information to the attorney general, so they can make an informed decision on what action to take in a case. Francois Giroux and Emma Carver Giroux and Carver are former employees of Wilson-Raybould, working within the Judicial Affairs office. Carver works as a litigation and policy adviser, providing advice on litigation decisions and legal advice provided to the cabinet. Giroux holds the title of judicial affairs adviser.
Carver and Giroux are mentioned by Wilson-Raybould regarding emails between the two and her chief of staff, Prince.
“This same day (Sept. 6) my Chief of Staff exchanged some emails with my MO Staff, about this, who advised her that the Deputy Attorney General – Nathalie Drouin – was working on something (they had spoken to her about the issue), and that my staff were drafting a memo as well on the role of the AG vis à vis the PPSC,” Wilson-Raybould said. Ben Chin Chin is the chief of staff to Bill Morneau, after joining Morneau’s team as a senior adviser in 2017. Wilson-Raybould discusses numerous instances where Chin reached out to Prince in order to arrange conversations about SNC-Lavalin. Amy Archer Amy Archer is a policy adviser for the Prime Minister’s Office, joining in September 2018.