Attempting to clear the air
PMO tried to persuade Wilson-Raybould, not pressure her: Butts
OTTAWA - Jody Wilson-Raybould never complained about improper pressure to halt the criminal prosecution of SNCLavalin until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to move her out of her coveted cabinet role as justice minister and attorney general, the prime minister’s former principal secretary says.
Gerald Butts testified before the House of Commons justice committee Wednesday, offering what he characterized as a “very different” version of events from those described last week in explosive testimony from WilsonRaybould.
Butts delivered a 33-minute opening statement and answered nearly two hours of questions from MPs on the committee. He repeatedly said he believed nobody from the Prime Minister’s Office had done anything wrong. Butts said several times that if Wilson-Raybould felt she’d been inappropriately pressured to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case, she had an obligation to let Trudeau know as it was happening.
“If this was wrong in the way that is alleged, why are we having conversation now and not in September or October or November?” he said.
He said Wilson-Raybould didn’t raise any concerns about what was happening with the prime minister until he told her he was shuffling her out of the justice portfolio, which she told him was her “dream job.”
Butts said he feels the law is very specific in not only allowing the government to continually provide Wilson-Raybould with information to inform her decision, but that she had an obligation to receive the information.
Last week, Wilson-Raybould told the committee she was subjected to relentless, inappropriate pressure - and even veiled threats about being removed as justice minister - to stop the trial of SNCLavalin on bribery and fraud charges related to contracts in Libya.
Wilson-Raybould testified that the pressure to interfere in the case came from Trudeau himself, Butts and other senior staff, the top federal public servant and Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s staff - all of whom wanted her to order the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with the Montreal engineering giant. Such an agreement would have forced the company to pay stiff penalties while avoiding a criminal conviction that could financially cripple it.
Butts said he feels the law is very specific in not only allowing the government to continually provide Wilson-Raybould with information to inform her decision on the prosecution, but that she had an obligation to receive the information.
In fact, Butts said, he has no opinion on whether SNC-Lavalin should get a remediation agreement to head off bribery and fraud charges and that he doesn’t envy Wilson-Raybould, or the current Attorney General David Lametti, having to make the decision.