The Montreal based company, SNC-Lavalin, has been in trouble since 1995 due to briberies, fraud and other scandals. Most recently, in 2017, former federal official Michael Fournier pleaded guilty in 2017 to accepting more 2.3 million in payments from SNC-Lavalin in connection with the project. However, the federal government has passed what they called a deferred prosecution agreement which would allow the company to admit fault, pay a fine and still bid on federal contracts. However, it is ultimately the Public Prosecutor’s decision on whether this agreement goes through or not. The Liberals involvement in the case has left their party with the loss of 3 member as a result.
On January 14, 2019 former Minister of Justice & Attorney General, Jody-Wilson Raybould was shuffled from those positions to become the Minister of Veterans Affairs. Less than a month later, she had resigned her position on February 12. It was announced that the Prime Minister’s office had allegedly attempted to influence Wilson-Raybould concerning an ongoing prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, while she was still in position of Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Prime Minister Trudeau and other Liberals have since denied this.
On February 18, 2019, The Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Trudeau and long-time friend, Gerald Butts resigned his position as well. He said he needed to do so in order to defend himself against the allegations that were made against him in relation to the SNC-Lavalin. Earlier this morning he gave a testimony which was followed by several questions regarding the matter by other political party members. Butts said Wilson-Raybould should have raised any concerns about what she has described as inappropriate pressure with the prime minister directly to him.
“If it is a question of law and that minister is the attorney general, the obligation to inform the prime minister is of an even higher order. And it ought to be in writing so that its significance isn’t lost on its lay audience.” said Butts, in his opening statement.
On 4 March 2019, Jane Philpott resigned from her position in the cabinet as President of the Treasury Board. Philpott said she had lost confidence in the Liberal government, citing the inability to reconcile with the government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
So if the SNC-Lavalin has numerous troubling convictions dating back to the mid 90’s, why is it that it continues to happen? Fanshawe College Politic’s Professor Glen Morgan says the white-collared crimes fly under the radar. “when the financial collapse hit wallstreet in the last recession, Bernie Madoff and the Ponzi schemes, the sub-par mortgages. All of this fraud was going on there, yet, very, very few people went to jail for this. Companies just paid fines. The government even ended up bailing them out so people didn’t lose out on retirement plans, pension funds. ” He goes on to say when a company gets hit so big, people who have no involvement end up losing.
“You hit the company to hit the crime but you end up with collateral damage .”
Morgan says ” If this issue is still a factor in the upcoming federal election in October, that could be a significant problem for The Liberals. In terms of popular opinion, it’s a bigger big hit for The Liberals
In a recent poll, The Liberals took yet another a hit as the Conservatives took over first place to voters. However, Morgan doesn’t see The NDP party getting enough support even with the issues to The Liberals and the growing unhappiness of Rob Ford and The Conservatives.
“Right now, they are still running third despite Liberals have taken such a hit. Support for the Liberal in terms of drops, has seemed to shift to the Conservatives and not the NDP.”
Morgan says the Green party is not a threat either and they have consistently only pulled about 5 per cent in support.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to address the media tomorrow morning in a statement.
