Tag: Jody Wilson-Raybould

Chris Wattie/Reuters OTTAWA — Canada’s top public servant, who was accused of improperly pressing the former attorney general to settle a corruption case involving a major corporation, resigned on Monday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to put more than a month of political turmoil behind him. In parliamentary testimony, Jody Wilson-Raybould, who stepped down as justice minister and attorney general, had singled out Michael Wernick, the public servant, for making what she called “veiled threats” to steer her toward using a new law to impose a hefty financial penalty, rather than a criminal conviction, on SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal company accused of bribery in Libya. A criminal conviction would have barred the company from government work for a decade, which led Mr. Trudeau and others to fear the loss of Canadian jobs. Public appearances by the clerk are rare, and past clerks have generally been guarded and careful in their comments, as it is their job to ensure that government workers carry out the laws passed by politicians. “I worry about the rising tide of incitements to violence when people use terms like ‘treason’ and ‘traitor’ in open discourse,” he said, referring to terms used on social media by some critics of Mr. Trudeau’s actions in the SNC-Lavalin affair. “Those are words that lead to assassination. I’m worried that somebody is going to be shot in this country this year during the political campaign.” [Read more about how Justin Trudeau was ensnared by the SNC-Lavalin scandal] Opposition politicians said afterward that Mr. Wernick’s actions involving Ms. Wilson-Raybould and his comments about the political state of the nation were improper for a public servant in any position. One member of the New Democratic Party, Charlie Angus, asked Mr. Trudeau in a letter to demand Mr. Wernick resign. But in his resignation letter to Mr. Trudeau on Monday, he said that “recent events have led me to conclude that I cannot serve as clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to cabinet during the upcoming election campaign,” and “it is now apparent that there is no path for me to have a relationship of mutual trust and respect with the leaders of the opposition parties.” The clerk is a key figure in the transition if the government changes hands during an election. Both Mr. Butts and Mr. Trudeau have insisted that their requests, and those of others, that Ms. Wilson-Raybould look into the possibility of a settlement were neither excessive nor improper.

Second, they didn’t realize that she came to government with an Indigenous agenda that superseded party politics. By nation I am not referring to Canada but to our nations — Cree, Anishinaabe, Saksika, Nakota and so on. When our people enter the ring of partisan politics, it is usually because they have an agenda and want to make change. To Wilson-Raybould the legal relations between Canada and the First Nations include the constitution, the Crown, the treaties and so on. These are the bedrock legal instruments that define our relationship and don’t need to be policy. Other of our politicians have switched parties and put their people first. Later he would switch parties and run for the Liberals in his provincial constituency. But over the years our people have supported political parties because of the actions of the party leader or a local politician. When John Diefenbaker extended the voting franchise and appointed James Gladstone from Alberta to the Senate, his stock in Indian Country soared. This is who I am and who I will always be.” I think that defines our relationship with partisan politics.

Second, they didn’t realize that she came to government with an Indigenous agenda that superseded party politics. By nation I am not referring to Canada but to our nations — Cree, Anishinaabe, Saksika, Nakota and so on. When our people enter the ring of partisan politics, it is usually because they have an agenda and want to make change. To Wilson-Raybould the legal relations between Canada and the First Nations include the constitution, the Crown, the treaties and so on. These are the bedrock legal instruments that define our relationship and don’t need to be policy. Other of our politicians have switched parties and put their people first. Later he would switch parties and run for the Liberals in his provincial constituency. But over the years our people have supported political parties because of the actions of the party leader or a local politician. When John Diefenbaker extended the voting franchise and appointed James Gladstone from Alberta to the Senate, his stock in Indian Country soared. This is who I am and who I will always be.” I think that defines our relationship with partisan politics.

Chris Wattie/Reuters OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada has been trying for weeks to shift the country’s attention from accusations by his former justice minister that his government improperly pressured her on a criminal case. On Wednesday, members of his party helped him do that by blocking the minister from testifying again about the matter before a parliamentary committee. Mr. Trudeau’s opponents immediately cried foul. “What does this say to Canadians?” said Tracey Ramsey, a member of the New Democratic Party. “That they have something to hide.” The committee is controlled by Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal party. He also told lawmakers that Ms. Wilson-Raybould, who was moved to the less prestigious post of veterans affairs in January before she resigned from the cabinet, was first offered the job of Indigenous affairs minister but turned it down. And Conservatives pushed for the committee to call her back. Trudeau directed his committee members to shut down the committee’s investigation into the SNC-Lavalin scandal,” Pierre Poilievre, a Conservative, told reporters. Since then, the Liberals appear to have been trying to focus the conversation on a budget that will be presented on Tuesday and will outline the government’s priorities leading up to the national election in October. Mr. Trudeau is in Florida this week with his family on a school break vacation.

Chris Wattie/Reuters OTTAWA — Another minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada quit in protest on Monday over accusations that he and his aides tried to influence a criminal case against a multinational Canadian company accused of bribing the Libyan government. The unexpected resignation, by Jane Philpott, who led the treasury board, inflames a growing political crisis that has already cost Mr. Trudeau his former justice minister and his top aide. “I’ve been considering the events that have shaken the government in recent weeks and after serious reflection, I have concluded that I must resign as a member of cabinet,” said Ms. Philpott, who was also a former health minister and minister of Indigenous affairs. “While I’m disappointed, I understand her decision.” Mr. Trudeau said that the political controversy “has generated important discussion” and added that “there are more questions to be answered and more to be said in the coming days and weeks.” With a federal election looming seven months away, Mr. Trudeau must now not only salvage his reputation as someone who promised an open approach to politics, but may be in peril of losing control of his position as leader of the Liberal Party, which would end his time as prime minister. In announcing her decision, Ms. Philpott cited accusations that Mr. Trudeau and his aides had exerted improper and excessive pressure on the justice minister and attorney general at the time, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to seek a settlement in the criminal case against the company, SNC-Lavalin. Ms. Philpott was among the few cabinet ministers to publicly side with her. But this is going to shift opinion in the caucus.” But Professor Koop said he’s seen nothing to suggest that Ms. Wilson-Raybould was trying to lead a movement to eject Mr. Trudeau as the party leader and, thus, prime minister. Both say they intend to remain in the Liberal caucus. On Feb. 12, she resigned. Ken Coates, a political historian at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, said Ms. Philpott’s resignation was the most significant act of cabinet revolt in about 50 years.

Chris Wattie/Reuters TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada promised a fresh approach to politics, one that was based on openness, decency and liberalism. Canadian newspapers are filled with outrage and opposition parties are calling for a resignation. Elections are still seven months away, but some members of Mr. Trudeau’s own governing party fear the scandal has armed opposition parties with rich campaign fodder against its leader, who promised “sunny ways” in politics. The prime minister and his aides have been accused of pressuring his justice minister at the time, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to drop the criminal inquiry against the company because a conviction could potentially cost thousands of jobs in Canada, and diminish his Liberal Party’s political fortunes. Ms. Wilson-Raybould later quit that post. The scandal has been building slowly over weeks and already led to the resignation of Mr. Trudeau’s top political aide, and to Parliament’s ethics commissioner opening an investigation into potential conflicts of interest. “There was a concerted and sustained effort to politically influence my role as attorney general,” said Ms. Wilson-Raybould, who, as the first Indigenous person to hold the prestigious post of justice minister and the only Indigenous person in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, was a powerful symbol of his government’s commitment to both women and Indigenous rights. Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s appointment to justice minister had seemed proof to many that Mr. Trudeau was serious about correcting the country’s wrongs against its Indigenous population and treating Indigenous people as respected partners in the country, as he had promised during the election. “Why are not all women in that caucus, and their so-called feminist allies, calling for the prime minister’s resignation?” said Michelle Rempel, a Conservative member of Parliament in the House of Commons. In her testimony, Ms. Wilson-Raybould described the pressure she received as “inappropriate,” but said — twice — that it was not illegal.

Justin Tang/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press OTTAWA — The top political adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada resigned on Monday, deepening a political crisis over allegations the government tried to interfere in a criminal court case. “Any accusation that I or the staff put pressure on the attorney general is simply not true,” Mr. Butts wrote. “But the fact is that this accusation exists. Mr. Butts was a key player in the successful election campaign in 2015 that defied expectations by raising the Liberals from third place in polls to victory, making Mr. Trudeau prime minister. Since then, Mr. Butts has acted as Mr. Trudeau’s principal secretary and was widely viewed as the most powerful player within the prime minister’s office. “The last year before an election, you don’t leave your boss behind,” Mr. Gossage said. A criminal conviction would bar the company, which has about 52,000 employees worldwide, from working for the government of Canada for 10 years. Mr. Trudeau’s office confirmed last week that Ms. Wilson-Raybould brought the case up in a conversation with Mr. Butts, but declined to offer any details about what was said. Last week, the episode went from involving only anonymous allegations to a major political challenge when the federal ethics commissioner, Mario Dion, said he would investigate the prime minister’s actions. In his resignation letter, Mr. Butts noted that he had encouraged Ms. Wilson-Raybould, a former prosecutor and Indigenous leader from British Columbia, to enter politics.

Good morning, In the days after The Globe and Mail broke the story of the SNC-Lavalin affair (background here) that involved then-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould resisting pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office, anonymous Liberal “insiders” appeared in other reports criticizing the minister’s character. A week later, the Prime Minister’s Office finally disowned those off-the-record remarks. Also on the record are a group of Indigenous senators – most of whom were appointed by Justin Trudeau, but sit as independents – who say they commend Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s record as minister. They may have more to say after they meet in Ottawa next week. But, back to SNC-Lavalin, what is not on the record is exactly how much money the Montreal construction giant does get from the federal government. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. There are roughly 30 major construction and civil engineering firms in Canada. Absent SNC, either new firms of this nature will form, or existing firms will likely expand to meet the opportunity for work.” Don Martin (CTV) on how the SNC-Lavalin affair will end: “There is only one way out: Independent corroboration of Trudeau’s version of events from the only person who can deliver it: Jody Wilson-Raybould. And there’s only one person who can give her permission to speak: Justin Trudeau. If mum’s the final word on this gag order, cover-up is the only conclusion.” Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into?