Justin Trudeau blocked access to key information on SNC-Lavalin affair
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
157.22557
Summary
A new report from the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner casts new light on a key part of the SNC-Lavalin bribery scandal, and casts new doubt on the Prime Minister's initial denial that the allegations were false.
Transcript
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Canada's Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has issued a formal report
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really cementing what most Canadians concluded months ago about Justin Trudeau,
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that he erred and violated federal law when he tried to force and coerce, through himself and his office,
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Jody Wilson-Raybould, at the time Canada's Attorney General, to interfere in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin
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to try to give the company a sweetheart deal rather than holding it accountable on the allegations of bribery
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Now this report, however, does cast new light on the story.
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It's not just about this misunderstanding that Justin Trudeau was claiming before,
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and remember when that initial Globe and Mail report came out, he said that the allegations were false.
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I and my staff always acted appropriately and professionally.
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I therefore completely disagree with the former Attorney General's characterization of events.
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Well now the report says that there were numerous avenues, numerous attempts to interfere,
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and more importantly, undue, improper, and yes, illegal pressure put on Jody Wilson-Raybould.
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But even after this 63-page report was tabled, the Trudeau 2 report, because again, this isn't the first time he's been down this road,
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Justin Trudeau is still not taking accountability for his actions, though he says he is.
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I fully accept this report and take responsibility for everything that happened.
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Where I disagree with the commissioner, amongst others, is where he says and takes a strong perspective
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that any contact with the AG, the Attorney General on this issue, was improper.
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What we did over the past year wasn't good enough.
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But at the same time, I can't apologize for standing up for Canadian jobs.
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Yeah, so he says that he is taking responsibility and the buck stops with the Prime Minister,
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but is also disputing that anything improper happened.
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Well, if you're disputing the most central part of the report, what is it you're actually admitting to?
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And moreover, if you were actually contrite and interested in finding the truth and actually righting wrongs,
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During this examination, nine witnesses informed our office that they had information they believed to be relevant,
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but that could not be disclosed because, according to them,
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this information would reveal a confidence of the Queen's Privy Council
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and would fall outside the scope of Order in Council 2019-0105.
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In order to gain access to as much relevant information as possible,
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on March 29th, 2019, I instructed legal counsel in our office to engage with counterparts in the Privy Council office
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to request that witnesses be enabled to provide all of their evidence to our office.
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Despite several weeks of discussions, the offices remained at an impasse over access to cabinet confidences.
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Dion continues to say that he raised the matter directly with Trudeau,
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who lawyered up and said through legal counsel that he would have to talk to the Privy Council office
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to see whether this Order in Council could be amended,
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and at a certain point, the office just declined the request altogether.
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Now, the Order in Council he's referring to is the directive that Justin Trudeau gave
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allowing Jody Wilson-Raybould to testify before the Justice Committee
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about a limited window of time where she did something that was covered under cabinet confidence
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But as Jody Wilson-Raybould has said herself, that was a very narrow window
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and it wasn't the totality of what it is that she had to say.
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And in the course of Mario Dion's investigation, there were nine witnesses that had information
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that fell outside of that order and Justin Trudeau would not expand it.
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But beyond that, he pretended that he didn't know if he could.
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Well, if he issued the initial order, he could just as easily issue a second one.
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Now, I'm not suggesting there is criminal wrongdoing here.
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But what I am suggesting is that Justin Trudeau and his office obstructed this investigation
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when there was very clearly evidence that the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
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Justin Trudeau blocked access to key documents and witnesses
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for something that he says he did nothing wrong during.
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That is not a decision made by a Prime Minister who has nothing to hide.
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Canadians have allowed Trudeau and his government to violate Conflict of Interest and Ethics Law
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now several times in just a four-year term in office.
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But this is a lot bigger than the Bahamas' vacation.
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True North is standing up for truth and honesty and fairness in reporting.
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Please do chip in with a few dollars or even a few hundred dollars if you can.
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