SNC-LAVALIN FALLOUT
Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council, is stepping down after opposition MPs openly questioned his neutrality and demanded his resignation for his role in the SNC-Lavalin case. He becomes the fourth highranking Ottawa official to leave their position because of the scandal, joining former Liberal cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, and Gerald Butts, the former principal secretary to the prime minister.
Jody Wilson-Raybould
The woman at the centre of the scandal was the first Indigenous minister of justice and attorney general of Canada.
She’s accused the Prime Minister’s Office of pressuring her to intervene on criminal proceedings against SNCLavalin and cut a mediation deal.
Wilson-Raybould believes she was removed as attorney general for not co-operating.
Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet, but told her Vancouver-Granville constituents in a letter last week she still intends to run for re-election as a Liberal in the upcoming federal election.
Gerald Butts
Butts is a long-time friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, dating back to their student days at McGill University in Montreal. He was his principal secretary at the time of the scandal and often seen as a stand-in for the PM.
He also denies he or anyone in Trudeau’s office pressured Wilson-Raybould inappropriately.
“When you boil it all down, all we ever asked the attorney general to consider was a second opinion,” he told the justice committee.
Butts resigned from the Prime Minister’s Office on Feb. 18.
Jane Philpott
Philpott, a medical doctor and the former minister of health, resigned from her post as president of the Treasury Board and minister of digital government in early March, after taking on the roles in the January cabinet shuffle. She was generally seen as a well-regarded, key member of Trudeau’s cabinet.
In an open letter announcing her resignation, Philpott said she’s “lost confidence in how the government” has dealt with the SNC-Lavalin affair. Her decision followed Wilson-Raybould’s testimony at the House of Commons justice committee.
Michael Wernick
As the clerk of the Privy Council of Canada, Wernick is the country’s top civil servant. He announced his retirement Monday, saying he will leave before the federal election.
Wernick was accused of partisanship by opposition MPs for his defence of Trudeau’s office during the SNC-Lavalin affair. In an open letter to the prime minister, he wrote that “recent events” have led him to conclude that “there is no path for (him) to have a mutual trust and respect with the leaders of the opposition parties.”