PM rejects calls to quit over Libya bribery case
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, has refused to stand down over claims he interfered to help a building firm avoid a corruption trial over allegations it bribed the Libyan regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
A political scandal gripping his Liberal Party began when his former justice minister claimed on Thursday that she had been put under pressure to drop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a construction firm in the prime minister’s home province of Quebec.
In her testimony, Jody WilsonRaybould, who resigned as justice minister on February 12, claimed she endured ‘‘sustained pressure’’ by Trudeau’s staff to abandon a prosecution of the construction giant.
It is the first time the prime minister has been implicated in the scandal and the claims threaten to inflict significant political damage on the Liberals just months ahead of what polls suggest could be a closely fought election.
Trudeau yesterday said he disagreed with Wilson-Raybould’s ‘‘characterisation’’ of events and insisted he had full confidence in an inquiry into the affair. SNC-Lavalin is a major employer in the province of Quebec, where the Liberals have said they need to pick up seats to stand a chance of retaining a majority government.
Liberal officials noted that media coverage of the affair in Quebec had been generally favourable. SNCLavalin is accused of paying C$48 million (NZ$53m) in bribes to the Gaddafi regime in Libya between 2001 and 2011. It has been lobbying for what is called a deferred prosecution agreement instead of a trial and criminal prosecution, something federal prosecutors have rejected.
Wilson-Raybould said that she had confronted Trudeau in September over what she called persistent efforts by officials to help SNCLavalin evade trial on the corruption and bribery charges. WilsonRaybould said she made clear that she was not prepared to help the company avoid a trial, which is now pending.
However, she did concede that the actions did not break any laws. She was unexpectedly moved to a less prominent job in January before her resignation from Trudeau’s cabinet earlier this month.
She said she was convinced her refusal to give way on the SNCLavalin case had prompted her demotion. Conservative opponents have called for Trudeau to resign in the wake of her testimony.
Trudeau addressed the controversy in a televised news conference in Montreal yesterday, saying: ‘‘Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy and that’s exactly what we have done . . . we’ve also done it in a way that has respected our laws’’. Trudeau yesterday won the public support of a key political ally, Chrystia Freeland, the foreign minister who is seen as his potential successor. In an unusual move, Freeland appeared on the Canadian broadcaster CBC to say that she fully backed Trudeau.
‘‘Of course I support the prime minister 100 per cent . . . I am very clearly of the view that the prime minister would never apply improper pressure,’’ she said.
But another senior Liberal Party member said there was growing unhappiness among legislators about how Trudeau’s team had handled the SNC-Lavalin matter and said the prime minister needed to replace some of his staff.
‘‘The level of concern over what has happened over the last few hours is unprecedented,’’ said the Liberal, who did not want to be named. The Liberals have a majority in Canada’s House of Commons and, if they all vote with Trudeau, will be able to fend off any votes of confidence.