And thus, the SNC-Lavalin/Wilson-Raybould drama rolls along (and don’t you dare -gate this, or I will hunt you down and hurt you). The day began on a few different developments – first, that the Ethics Commissioner said he would begin “an examination” into the matter (which everyone stated was an investigation, though for a matter that has involved the parsing of words, I’m not sure that one is equal to the other), and that the Prime Minister said that welcomed the investigation from the Commissioner (possibly because it will take seven to nine months), that he’d spoken with Jody Wilson-Raybould twice over the past couple of day and stated that when they met back in the fall, and that he told her that any decisions around the Public Prosecution Service were hers alone (in the context of the public lobbying that was being done on all sides). And more to the point, he noted that the fact that she’s still in Cabinet should be proof that what’s alleged didn’t happen, as she would have resigned out of principle if she had been pressured, per the Shawcross Doctrine, and if he didn’t have confidence in her, then he wouldn’t have kept her in Cabinet. Oh, and he would ask the current Attorney General to look into the matter of whether he could waive solicitor-client privilege, because it’s not a simple matter (which got legal Twitter buzzing again).

So, in short:
* Trudeau said he welcomes the investigation
* Trudeau said he told JWR in the fall that prosecution decisions are hers alone
* Trudeau opens door an inch to waiving solicitor-client privilege, saying he has asked current AG to look at it, but that it's not simple

— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) February 11, 2019

Of course, none of this is proof enough for the opposition parties, who are demanding that the Justice Committee study go ahead, and the meeting is called for Wednesday, though the Chair has said that he’s hesitant because of the way in which the meeting was called, and the fact that he’s afraid of it simply becoming a partisan circus rather than a useful non-partisan exercise in getting to the truth of the matter. Other Liberals, like New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, is hoping the committee does take up the matter because he’s “troubled” by the allegations, while Celina Caesar-Chavannes is coming to Wilson-Raybould’s defence in light of accusations that there is a smear campaign in the works. And as added context to what is at stake, the federal government signed $68 million in new contracts with SNC-Lavalin last year, and they have a stake in some major projects.

Meanwhile, University of Toronto professor Kenneth Jull walks through the benefits and problems with deferred prosecution agreements like SNC-Lavalin has been pushing for. Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column goes through procedurally what is likely to happen during Wednesday’s justice committee meeting. Lawyer Michael Spratt sardonically wonders if Wilson-Raybould couldn’t achieve any of the promises in her mandate letter because she was being held back by PMO. Andrew Coyne remains adamant that there has not been a proper denial in any of this mess, as the PM continues to step on his own messaging, like he so often does.

I believe it is called "message testing."

We will start seeing names when they think they have a winning line.

— Jen Gerson (@jengerson) February 11, 2019

Good reads:

• At his by-election campaign stop in Burnaby South, Justin Trudeau asserted that the Liberals would win the seat over Jagmeet Singh.
• Jim Carr says that he expects interest in trade with China to slow given the current diplomatic tensions.
• Federal ad dollars are moving even more toward social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, away from television and newspapers.
• VADM Mark Norman’s lawyers are now alleging that the Prime Minister’s Office is trying to direct the prosecution in the case.
• The number of civil service positions being filled without advertising the job vacancy first is on the rise.
• The Coast Guard opted not to put stabilizer fins on their new mid-shore patrol ships, and how they rock so badly that crews are constantly getting sea sick.
• Alberta’s decision to mandate an oil production cut has meant that oil-by-rail shipments have become uneconomic. (Complexity in the market? Shocking!)
• Andrew Scheer told a town hall in New Brunswick that his first priority as prime minister would be to repeal carbon pricing to “incentivize” energy efficiency.” Err…
• Brad Trost and the Conservative Party came to a settlement over his alleged leak of the party’s membership list to gun lobbyists, and have decided to “move on.”
• Terry Glavin takes blistering aim at the NDP’s policy incoherence over the situation in Venezuela.

Odds and ends:

In this week’s Law Times, I look at recent Ontario case law around reunification therapy orders.

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