ICYMI - Ethics Watchdog Sides Firmly with Former Attorney General Wilson-Raybould

OTTAWA. After insisting for six months that his government had done nothing wrong in the SNC-Lavalin affair, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to accept a verdict Wednesday that backed his former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould’s version of events rather than his own.

In the report, House of Commons’ Conflict of Interest and Ethics commissioner, Mario Dion found Trudeau used his position of authority over Wilson-Raybould to try to influence her decision-making and, in so doing, tried to further the Quebec engineering giant’s private interests.

“The authority of the Prime Minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. Wilson-Raybould as the Crown’s chief law office,” Dion wrote.

The federal watchdog ruled Trudeau breached section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act, marking the second time in two years this prime minister has been found to have broken ethics rules.

Dion outlined what he called “troubling” tactics undertaken by the prime minister, the former clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, and staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, to get the then-attorney general to change her mind and involve herself in the prosecution of the engineering firm.

“The evidence abundantly shows that Mr. Trudeau knowingly sought to influence Ms. Wilson-Raybould both directly and through the actions of his agents,” Dion stated.

Trudeau has insisted he and his advisors sought only to safeguard thousands of Canadian jobs they believed to be on the line were SNC-Lavalin found guilty of fraud and corruption charges and banned from taking part in federal contracts for 10 years.

“I and my staff have always acted appropriately and professionally,” Trudeau told the public back in February. “...My job as prime minister has always been to stand up for Canadians and Canadian workers.”

SNC-Lavalin faces a criminal trial stemming from its business dealings in Libya during the previous decade. It stands accused of paying $48 million in bribes to one or more officials and defrauding Libyan organizations of nearly $130 million.

Wilson-Raybould responded to Dion’s report stated [in part], “I welcome the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner’s Trudeau II Report issued today. I am grateful for Commissioner Mario Dion’s thorough report. It represents a vindication of the independent role of the attorney general and of the director of public prosecutions in criminal prosecutions - and reinforces for Canadians how essential it is to our democracy to uphold the rule of law and prosecutorial independence. The report confirms critical facts, consistent with what I shared with all Canadians, and affirms the position I have taken from the outset. The commissioner was not distracted by inaccurate information about the events or about me personally - and drew conclusions based on the true facts of what occurred…”.

According to Global News, Wilson-Raybould feels vindicated by a report that found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated ethics laws, and wants an apology for Canadians, Nadia Stewart reports. She also added that she does not believe a crime occurred during the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Jody Wilson-Raybould PC QC MP is also known by her initials JWR and by her Kwak’wala name Puglaas, is a First Nations Canadian politician and former justice minister and attorney general, and currently the Independent Member of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville, BC.