By Jill Sperling

Wilson-Raybould testimony sparks calls for further investigation

Feb 28, 2019 | 3:26 PM

KAMLOOPS — Former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould says she felt pressure to interfere in the criminal prosecution of Montreal-based engineering company, SNC-Lavalin. 

Her testimony has sparked criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

“To see this unfold and to see how he’s trying to influence decisions that favour the well-connected, the Liberal Party big donors, SNC-Lavalin, I think it’s very disappointing for Canadians,” said local NDP spokesperson Michael Crawford.

“Our leaders need to show the highest degree of integrity and this showed the whole office to have done very, very questionable things,” said Conservative MP Cathy McLeod. 

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In February 2015, SNC-Lavalin was charged with corruption and fraud in relation to its dealings with Libya, allegedly bribing the government in order to win contracts. 

Wilson-Raybould claims that throughout a four month period in 2018, multiple people within government made an effort to secure a deferred-prosecution agreement with the company. 

“So, here we get an example of what we may have suspected was happening, this kind of I don’t want to say strong-arming in cabinet, but it’s something that happens in different governments in Canada and around the provinces,” said TRU assistant professor of Political Science, Dr. Robert Hanlon, “so it was quite shocking, but again not too suprising that this does happen.”

Wilson-Raybould said in her testimony she did not believe the pressure was illegal. 

Hanlon says there is a difference between legality and ethics. 

“Being unethical doesn’t necessarily mean being illegal,” Hanlon said. “So that is something that I think there is a process they’ll work through, but the bigger issue here for me has been how the government treats large, multi-national corporations that are involved in corruption scandals abroad.”

The Federal Conservatives are calling for an RCMP investigation and the resignation of the Prime Minister. 

“He was asking the Attorney General of the country to interfere in a criminal prosecution not only in terms of SNC-Lavalin, which again is a liberally connected company who lobbied many many times for the outcome, they had put legislation in in a budget to have what they called the deferred prosecution agreement,” McLeod said. 

Crawford says a public inquiry could help shed some more light on the situation.

“The only way to get to the bottom of this is to force Mr. Trudeau into a situation where he’s testifying under oath,” he said, “and that’s likely to result in Canadians getting a better picture of what really went on.”