Ethics review elicits mixed reactions

Calgary’s Liberal MP defends PM while local conservatives say he’s unforgivable

Calgary’s lone Liberal MP is defending Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — while local conservative adversaries ramped up their attacks — in response to a scathing report that determined the federal leader violated the Conflict of Interest Act in his handling of the Snc-lavalin affair.

“I have the utmost confidence in the prime minister,” Calgary Centre MP Kent Hehr said at a news conference, repeating Trudeau’s message that the Liberal leader was standing up for Canadian jobs.

In a report Wednesday, federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion concluded the prime minister directed high-level government pressure on then-justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-raybould to intervene in an ongoing criminal case against engineering giant Snc-lavalin. The Montreal-based firm was accused of bribing Libyan officials and defrauding Libyan organizations of millions.

Trudeau has said he accepts the report and takes full responsibility for what happened, but disagrees with some of the conclusions.

“I’m not going to apologize for standing up for Canadian jobs, because that’s my job — to make sure Canadians and communities and pensioners and families across the country are supported, and that’s what I will always do,” Trudeau said during a news conference Thursday in Fredericton.

When asked for his reaction to the report, Hehr said the prime minister has addressed the concerns and consistently stood up for jobs across Canada, using Trudeau’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion as an example. “I think this is a consistent approach by the prime minister in ensuring that people have opportunities to build their lives.”

The Calgary MP would not say whether he thinks the prime minister should apologize, but instead said Trudeau is doing his job to ensure he meets cabinet and caucus members to understand the importance of each region of Canada.

“I think the prime minister is moving forward and leading in many ways,” said Hehr.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel, who represents Calgary-nose Hill, said Trudeau’s actions have proven he can’t continue to lead Canada. “I’m just really concerned that the Liberals are trying to sweep this under the rug, because you should never have a prime minister, regardless of political strife, found accused of interfering in the independence of our judiciary,” said Rempel, who called Trudeau’s insistence that he was defending jobs “B.S.”

Rempel said many Albertans feel as if the Trudeau government has placed Alberta on the back burner and, in turn, has eliminated job growth and prosperity for the province. She said the biggest issue for her constituents is the economy, and that will be a major factor in the federal election.

Both Rempel and Greg Mclean, the Conservative candidate in Calgary-centre, said an apology by Trudeau would not amount to much. “I think an apology is reserved for something you can move on from, but this is a man who has been caught using his power to attempt to influence the independent judiciary for his own political gain and that is something that I think transcends apology, and I think he’s lost the moral authority to govern,” said Rempel.

Mclean, who will take on Hehr in October’s federal election, said he hopes Calgarians remember the SNC scandal and Trudeau’s role during the fall vote. However, he’s skeptical it will be top of mind with weeks until the nationwide vote.