RCMP didn't interview Wernick about PM
Former clerk testifies about SNC-Lavalin
• The former clerk of the Privy Council says he was never interviewed by the RCMP in their investigation of the SNC-Lavalin affair, which concluded with the force declining to lay any charges.
Michael Wernick testified before the House of Commons Ethics committee on Tuesday and said he was not interviewed as part of the Mounties' investigation into whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke the law when he pressured his justice minister to avoid sending the Quebec firm to trial on corruption charges.
Wernick said he was interviewed by the ethics commissioner and by RCMP in connection to a possible investigation about lobbying, but not about the issue of whether Trudeau interfered in the investigation.
Wernick was clerk during the SNC-Lavalin scandal in 2018, when former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould said she felt pressured by him to intervene in the company's criminal case. Wernick was among several people Trudeau dispatched to try to find a resolution with Wilson-Raybould.
Trudeau pushed Wilson-Raybould to consider a deferred prosecution agreement for the company. A deferred prosecution agreement is a legal process that allows companies to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for taking certain steps, often paying large fines or providing restitution.
She was later moved in cabinet to the veterans affairs portfolio and then ultimately forced out of cabinet entirely when she went public with her complaints.
SNC-Lavalin, which has since changed its name to AtkinsRéalis, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and paid a $280 million fine, but avoided a 10-year ban on bidding on public contracts, which they would have faced if convicted on the original charges of fraud and corruption.
Then ethics commissioner Mario Dion found Trudeau had violated ethics laws by pressuring Wilson-Rayboud to consider a deferred prosecution agreement for the company. The RCMP recently revealed that they chose not to pursue a criminal investigation without having interviewed Trudeau.
Wernick, who left his post in 2019, said he never directed the RCMP to do anything during his time as clerk. He said the RCMP may have chosen a different path because they are held to different standards than the ethics commissioner.