Canada’s Trudeau disputes ex-minister’s charge she was pressured on SNC-Lavalin

OTTAWA, (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, rejecting an opposition call for his resignation, disputed allegations yesterday by his former justice minister that government officials inappropriately pressured her to help a major company avoid a corruption trial.

The remarks by Jody Wilson-Raybould, made during almost four hours of sometimes dramatic testimony to the House of Commons justice committee, deepened the worst crisis of Trudeau’s tenure months before an October election.

Wilson-Raybould said she had confronted Trudeau over what she said were persistent efforts by officials to help construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc evade trial on charges of bribing Libyan officials.

“I strongly maintain, as I have from the beginning, that I and my staff always acted appropriately and professionally,” Trudeau told a televised news conference in Montreal.

“I therefore completely disagree with (WilsonRaybould’s) characterization of events,” he added, brushing off a demand from Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer that he step down.

The case forced the resignation of Trudeau’s principal private secretary, Gerald Butts, earlier this month.

Wilson-Raybould said officials imposed “consistent and sustained pressure” on her from September to December last year to ensure SNC-Lavalin pay a large fine rather than go to trial.

“This pressure, or political interference to intervene, was not appropriate,” she said, adding that some officials had made veiled threats unless she cooperated.

The head of the federal civil service, she said, told her that Trudeau would “find a way to get it done one way or another. So, he is in that kind (of) mood and I wanted you to be aware of that.”

Wilson-Raybould said those exchanges prompted her to think of the so-called Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, when the U.S. attorney general and his top deputy quit rather than obey an order from President Richard Nixon to fire an investigator probing the Watergate scandal.

She added, however, under questioning from Liberal legislators that she did not feel the pressure on her had been illegal.