Articles by Robert Fife and Steven Chase

Mar 15 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Jody Wilson-Raybould says the SNC-Lavalin affair has served as a “wake up call” for many Canadians and inspired her to push to reform Canada’s democratic institutions and increase respect for the rule of law and prosecutorial independence. In a thank-you letter to constituents of Vancouver Granville, the former attorney-general expressed her disappointment at politicians who […]

Feb 28 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the RCMP has not contacted him or Liberal government staff regarding the SNC-Lavalin affair. His comments come the day after Jody Wilson-Raybould testified for MPs that she faced “consistent and sustained” political pressure from Mr. Trudeau and top officials, including “veiled threats,” on the need to shelve the criminal prosecution […]

Feb 27 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Jody Wilson-Raybould says she was subjected to sustained and coordinated political pressure including “veiled threats” to intervene and shelve the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. In dramatic televised testimony before the House of Commons justice committee on Wednesday, the former justice minister and attorney-general said there were 10 phone calls and 10 meetings in […]

Feb 21 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Former attorney-general voiced concerns in Tuesday meeting about officials pressing her to order a settlement; company said in wake of prosecutor’s Sept. 4 decision that it could move to Britain.

Feb 20 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Until now, publicly available information had indicated that the Prime Minister spoke to Ms. Wilson-Raybould before prosecutors made their decision, announced by SNC on Oct. 10

Feb 8 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — On Friday morning, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said opposition MPs will attempt to launch a committee investigation into the allegations that former justice minister and attorney-general Jody Wilson-Raybould had resisted pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to issue a directive to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to shelve court proceedings against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. […]

Feb 7 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confronted allegations of political interference by his office on Thursday, saying he did not “direct” Jody Wilson-Raybould when she was justice minister and attorney-general to abandon the criminal prosecution of a Montreal corporate giant. But he repeatedly refused to say whether his office tried to influence her to do so. The […]

Jan 27 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired Canada’s envoy to China on the eve of Parliament’s return with the opposition parties poised to exploit John McCallum’s controversial statements that appeared to side with Beijing’s assertions that the arrest of a Huawei executive was politically motivated. The Conservatives gave notice on Friday it planned to table a motion […]

Jan 8 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Conservative Party wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to immediately telephone China’s President to seek the release of two imprisoned Canadians, and to inform the people of Canada whether it is safe to travel to China. The party’s foreign affairs critic, Erin O’Toole, said it is baffling that Mr. Trudeau called U.S. President Donald Trump […]

Jan 8 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — More than 80 per cent of Canadians have negative impressions of China’s authoritarian rulers and more than half believe Canada was right to detain a senior Huawei executive for possible extradition to the United States, a new poll shows. Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, currently released on $10-million bail and confined to the Vancouver area, […]

Dec 19 2018 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Federal Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer says the Official Opposition is firmly opposed to any move by the Liberal government to cancel exports of Canadian light-armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia. Mr. Scheer told The Globe and Mail he believes Canada could far more effectively signal its disapproval of Riyadh’s murder of a dissident Saudi journalist […]

Dec 17 2018 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Spy chiefs from the Five Eyes intelligence network briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on two occasions this year about the national-security risk from Chinese high-tech giant Huawei − meetings that took place months before Canada’s arrest of a top Huawei executive severely strained relations with Beijing. Sources say Mr. Trudeau met the spy directors at […]

Dec 13 2018 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — It has been a year since Paul Legault, Canada’s Senate Ethics Officer, began investigating an all-expenses-paid trip to China by three Conservative senators and their spouses. The ethics watchdog launched the probe last December after The Globe and Mail reported that Senators Victor Oh, Don Plett and Leo Housakos went on a two-week trip to […]

Dec 11 2018 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Chinese embassy in Canada says the Vancouver arrest of a top Huawei executive amounts to a “political conspiracy” to undermine the telecom giant and it dismisses Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s assertion that he had no role in the high-profile case. The embassy told The Globe and Mail that Canada and the United States are […]

Dec 7 2018 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he supports the United States’s campaign to persuade Canada and other key allies to ban the use of Huawei equipment in next-generation telecommunications networks. The Trudeau government has so far refused to join the majority of the Five Eyes Intelligence community in barring Huawei equipment from being used in […]