Roundup: No inquiry (for now)

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Another day, and a few more incremental pieces to add to the SNC-Lavalin/Wilson-Raybould Affair. There were reports that Justin Trudeau met with Jody Wilson-Raybould about the company two weeks after the Public Prosecution Service declined to offer them a deferred prosecution agreement (but we have no details). Wilson-Raybould attended caucus, and Trudeau apologized to her for not forcefully condemning the remarks about her, or the political cartoons that portrayed her bound and gagged. (We also heard that when it came to Wilson-Raybould addressing Cabinet on Tuesday, she apparently waited outside for two hours while some ministers argued that she be allowed to be heard. So that’s curious – and pretty unprecedented). Later in the day, the Liberals voted down the NDP’s Supply Day motion to call for an independent inquiry on the whole affair – the party line being that they don’t think it’s necessary at this time with the Ethics Commissioner and justice committee processes in place – but two Liberals did break ranks to vote for it. It should be no surprise that it was Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and Wayne Long (but could We The Media quit framing these kinds of things as “cracks in party unity” or nonsense like that? That’s why parties develop iron fists). After the vote, Wilson-Raybould stood up to put on the record that she abstained because the vote was about her personally, and she didn’t want to be in perceived conflict (which immediately created cries from the opposition that the PM should also have abstained), but she said she wanted to “speak her truth” as soon as she could. So that got more tongues wagging, naturally.

Emerging from this whole issue are the metaphysics of how the federal justice minister has a separate hat as Attorney General, and how the two roles can sometimes clash, particularly when it comes to political consideration. To that end, Colby Cosh delves further into this dichotomy and why that may be part of the cause of this whole affair to begin with. There are also a couple of worthwhile threads to read on it – one from Adam Goldenberg (one-time Liberal staffer and former law clerk to then-Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin) that argues that the Act requires a political consideration for deferred prosecutions in order for political accountability, while another litigator, Asher Honickman, disputes that – but agrees that the situation has a lot of nuance.

For context, here is an exploration of the role that Gerald Butts played in Trudeau’s PMO. Here’s the updated timeline of events as we know them so far. Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column explores how a Commons committee could run an investigation into an affair like the current one, but notes they’re not well suited to do so, and also details where it would break down into a partisan sideshow.

In punditry, Chantal Hébert makes the salient point that Wilson-Raybould is more in charge of the current situation than the prime minister is, which is an interesting dynamic.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau attended the memorial in Halifax for the seven children who died in a housefire.
  • Bill Morneau announced that March 19thwill be Budget Day.
  • The government says that they’ve met with three-quarters of Indigenous communities along the Trans Mountain route as part of new consultations.
  • The CRTC issued a report calling out misleading sales practices by telecom companies, but it’s only a report and not any indication of future action.
  • The second day of “convoy” protests happened, and hey, a Conservative Senator said they should “roll over every Liberal left in the country,” so no problems there!
  • The Chief of Defence Staff is apologizing for a Facebook recruitment ad that features a question about women wearing make-up in uniform.
  • The Senate’s national security committee study on the gun control bill is derailed as their veterans subcommittee wants to discuss the turnover in ministers.
  • Questions are being raised as to why the Senate Ethics Officer hasn’t completed an investigation since 2017. (There is talk about making him full-time, as is not now).
  • Tony Clement has made his return to Parliament (and Instagram, apparently).
  • Jason Kenney says if he forms government, he would shelve the oil-by-rail deal that the current government just signed (which they say will turn a profit).

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