Conservatives promise to open up a judicial inquiry into SNC-Lavalin affair

The SNC-Lavalin affair returned to thecampaign trail today, with the Conservatives promising to launch a judicialinquiry into the scandal if they form government this fall.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer travelled to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's Papineauriding Thursday morning to make the announcement.

"We are here in Papineau to send a message to Justin Trudeau, and to the people in his office who are associated with this scandal, [that] we're taking this situation very seriouslyand we want to eliminate any possibility of it happening again," Scheer told reporters during the campaign stop.

Scheer also said a Conservative government would allow theRCMP to access information protected by cabinet confidence by applying to the Supreme Court of Canada legislation he'sdubbing the No More Cover Ups Act.

"The measures I've announced today and others I will announce later in the campaign will safeguard our democracy against the whims of sleazy and unscrupulous politicians," he said.

The issue ofcabinet confidences dogged Trudeau in the early days of the campaign.

Just hours before the official dissolution of Parliament,the Globe and Mailpublished a storysuggestingthe RCMP were being stymied in their attempts to interview potential witnesses in the SNC-Lavalin case because they were shackled bycabinet confidence.

Trudeau has long argued he granted an unprecedented waiverto free upformer justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould and others to testify in front of a parliamentary committee earlier this year, often referring to it as "the largest and most expansive waiver of cabinet confidence in Canada's history."

Responding to theGlobe'sstory,Trudeau has said it was the Privy Council clerk who made the decision not to broaden the waiver.

"We respect the decisions made by our professional public servants. We respect the decision made by the clerk," Trudeausaid at the time of dissolution.

Conservatives promise inquiry into SNC-Lavalin affair

5 years ago

Duration 1:12

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says his party would respect the independence of the judiciary.

The Liberal leaderhas acknowledgedhe needs to earn back Canadians' trust after his campaign was rocked by last week's revelations that Trudeauwore blackface on at least three separate occasions.

Trudeau, campaigning in Sudbury today, was asked what he could do between now and election day to prove he'strustworthy. He replied he would"continue to focus on the things that Canadians care most about."

"Canadianscare about fighting against intolerance and racism, and I will keep standing up against intolerance every single day," he said.

NDPLeaderJagmeetSingh, whocalled for a public inquiry into theSNC-Lavalinaffair shortly afterthe story broke, said his party would attack deferred prosecution agreements asthe root of the issue.

"It's wrong to give corrupt companies an out," Singh told reporters at a campaign event in Campbell River, B.C.

Perceptions in Quebec

Singh also dismissed the Liberals' claim that prosecuting the Quebec-based engineering firm could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.

"There will continue to be jobs for Canadians and Quebecers, despite the threat Mr. Trudeau referred to," he said.

Quebec's popular premier,Franois Legault, has said that he supports Trudeau's intentions on the SNC-Lavalin file, to save jobs, but doesnot always agree with his methods.

Polls have also suggestedthere is slightly more tolerance for Trudeau's actions onSNC-Lavalin in Quebec than there isin other parts of the country.

A Nanos poll released in September found that 44.3 per cent of Quebecers polled said Trudeau was justified or somewhat justified in his actions, which is about 10pointshigher than the national average of 34.9 per cent. That same poll showed that 48.4 per cent of Quebecers said Trudeau was not justified or somewhat not justified.

An Abacus Data poll released in August found that 50 per cent of Quebecers feltTrudeau was motivated to protect jobs, while 50 per cent said hisactions were inappropriate.

Ethics act violation

Last month, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dionfound Trudeauviolated the Conflict of Interest Actby trying to influenceWilson-Raybouldto overrule a decision denying a deferred prosecution agreement toSNC-Lavalin.

In his report, Dion wrote that "the prime minister, directly and through his senior officials, used various means to exert influence overMs.WilsonRaybould."

"The authority of the prime minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the director of public prosecutions as well as the authority ofMs.WilsonRaybouldas the Crown's chief law officer," Dion wrote.

SNC-Lavalin is facingbribery and fraud chargesrelated toalleged payments of close to $50 millionto public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts.

In the2002Babcock decision, the Supreme Court of Canada defended the principle of cabinet confidence, saying that if cabinet members' statements were subject to disclosure they might end up censoring their words, consciously or unconsciously.

"The process of democratic governance works best when cabinet members charged with government policy and decision-making are free to express themselves around the cabinet table unreservedly," it reads.