WILSON-RAYBOULD SET TO TESTIFY.
OTTAWA • Canadians are finally about to hear testimony from the central player in a political crisis that has dominated Ottawa for three weeks and cost Prime Minister Justin Trudeau one of his top aides.
Jody Wilson-raybould, the former justice minister and attorney general, has accepted an invitation from the House of Commons justice committee to testify on Wednesday about the allegation she was politically pressured to stay the criminal prosecution of Snc-lavalin in favour of a remediation agreement.
Remediation agreements see a company admit wrongdoing, pay a fine, and obey other compliance conditions, but avoid a guilty conviction in court.
Wilson-raybould’s agreement to testify follows an unusual move by Trudeau on Monday night to issue a cabinet order waiving all claims of cabinet confidence and solicitor-client privilege over the testimony Wilson-raybould may give on the issue. Wilson-raybould had told the committee in a letter that she would need more clarity on that issue before scheduling her appearance.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, Trudeau told reporters it’s “important that people get an opportunity to testify or share their point of view with the committee.”
“Waiving privilege, waiving cabinet confidentiality is something that we had to take very seriously, but I’m pleased that Ms. Wilson-raybould is going to be able to share her perspectives,” he said.
Cabinet confidence privilege protects information relating to the deliberations of cabinet ministers. Solicitor-client privilege protects information given by a legal adviser (which in this case is the attorney general herself ).
Wilson-raybould had repeatedly said she needed the government to waive its privilege.
“The government can waive solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence. I cannot,” her letter said to the committee said. “I would prefer not to schedule my appearance before the Committee until we all have whatever clarity we can have about these issues.”
The committee issued a response letter on Tuesday after meeting behind closed doors to discuss the concerns raised by Wilson-raybould, and the subsequent cabinet order issued by Trudeau.
“It is the view of the committee that this Order in Council provides the clarity needed to the issues of privilege and confidence,” the committee’s letter said.
The letter noted that the order’s only limit on Wilson-raybould’s testimony “relates to information or communications between yourself and the Director of Public Prosecutions concerning Snc-lavalin.”
The letter also said the committee has received a legal opinion on the “sub judice” convention, which holds that Parliamentary debate does not influence the outcome of an ongoing court proceeding.
There are two such proceedings involving Snclavalin. The company is facing criminal charges in Quebec Superior Court for allegedly bribing public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011. It has also filed a case in Federal Court challenging the decision made by federal prosecutors last September to not negotiate a remediation agreement.
I’M PLEASED THAT MS. WILSONRAYBOULD IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO SHARE HER PERSPECTIVES.
Wilson-raybould requested, and the committee has granted, an opening statement of 30 minutes — much longer than the usual length — to lay out her side of the case before taking questions. She said she wants the extended time to “give the committee my best recollection of all the relevant communications about which I may properly testify.”
Last week the committee heard testimony from Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick, the head of the federal public service. Wernick told the committee about his own conversations with Wilson-raybould on Snclavalin, which took place in a joint meeting with Trudeau on Sept. 17, 2018, and in a phone call between the two of them on Dec. 19, 2018.
Wernick denied that any “inappropriate” pressure had ever been put on Wilson-raybould to negotiate a remediation agreement.