––Good morning,
Why didn’t federal prosecutors cut a settlement deal for SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.?
Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough, a key player in the federal government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin file, said Sunday that the severity of the allegations would have played a large role in the decision.
Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel decided last year to pursue the criminal case against SNC-Lavalin despite a new law that allows for negotiations through a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). Former attorney-general Jody Wilson-Raybould says she faced inappropriate pressure from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and high-ranking officials in his office to intervene in the matter.
The ensuing controversy has seen two cabinet ministers – Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Treasury Board president Jane Philpott – resign from their posts. Others have also expressed concerns about Mr. Trudeau’s leadership.
When weighing whether to grant a DPA, prosecutors must consider how alleged misconduct is discovered.
“The number one factor that is playing against SNC-Lavalin is that they did not self-report,” University of Ottawa law professor Jennifer Quaid said.
Another factor is the gravity of the alleged misconduct. SNC-Lavalin allegedly paid millions of dollars in bribes to public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts.
Handwritten notes from Sept. 18 reveal details of a meeting between SNC executives and Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick. SNC-Lavalin CEO Neil Bruce told the clerk that the prosecution’s "star witness is the guy who caused the problem.”
In the meeting, Mr. Wernick suggested that SNC-Lavalin go directly to Ms. Roussel.
Ms. Qualtrough said there is still a potential case for a DPA for SNC-Lavalin.
“I mean, these trials can absolutely fall apart. Corporate crime is hard to prove. A DPA would grant, in some way, a guaranteed punishment for a company that might get off criminally,” she said.
Attorney-General David Lametti, who replaced Ms. Wilson-Raybould in January, could yet grant SNC-Lavalin a DPA.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Eighteen Canadians were among 157 people killed when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed shortly after takeoff. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “deeply saddened” by the crash and offered “heartfelt condolences” on Sunday.
Seniors advocates are optimistic that the federal government’s pre-election budget will include measures aimed at protecting private-sector pensions in the event of a bankruptcy.
A leader of the Metis National Council has asked Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay to act quickly to ensure an apology is issued to Metis veterans from the Second World War.
The federal victims’ ombudsman says there are worrying gaps in proposed legislation around victims’ rights in the military justice system.
The head of Ontario’s civilian police watchdog has warned the provincial government that its proposed police reforms would “completely subvert” his agency’s independence and open the door to “political interference.”
U.S. President Donald Trump will ask Congress for an additional US$8.6-billion to help pay for the wall he promised to build on the southern border with Mexico.
Brexit could be reversed if lawmakers reject the government’s exit deal, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday after two major Euroskeptic factions in Parliament warned that Prime Minister Theresa May was facing a heavy defeat.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is the homeland “only of the Jewish people,” in a new jab at the country’s Arab minority ahead of April’s election.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika landed in Algeria on Sunday, Ennahar TV said, after spending two weeks in a Swiss hospital while protesters have amassed at home in the biggest threat to his 20-year rule.
Angela Wright (The Globe and Mail) on SNC-Lavalin and Mr. Trudeau’s leadership: “Calling for the resignation of a prime minister hints at a poisonous attitude that threatens to distort our Westminster-style system.”
Chris Selley (National Post) on SNC-Lavalin and the justice system: “The charges against SNC-Lavalin were laid in February 2015. More than four years later, we’re still fighting over whether to pursue them — and not, it must be said, in a way that makes us look like a terribly serious country.”
Éric Grenier (CBC News) on the SNC-Lavalin affair: “In the wake of the SNC-Lavalin affair, the Liberals have taken a hit in the polls. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken a bigger one.”
Chris Frey (The Globe and Mail) on how the 1990s still affect us: “So much of that decade’s politics – decisions made, issues unaddressed – haunt our current times more than any other. From societal issues of race and gender to the global economics of trade, from the radical transformations of the internet to the corrosive effects of growing political polarization, so many of the destabilizing forces that mark this current period in the United States and much of the West were either incubated, unleashed or amplified during that time.”
Barrie McKenna (The Globe and Mail) on a U.S.-China trade deal: “If the settlement is as advertised, it would be another gut-punch for Canada and other long-time U.S. allies.”
Charles Burton (The Globe and Mail) on Canada-China relations: “Canada’s years of appeasing China’s Communist regime, in the hope of obtaining economic favour, has led us to this horrendous mess. We must regain Canadian self-respect in our relations with China, by honest reassessment and a reboot to get it right.”
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