Mar 8 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — At last the Liberal government has that outside legal opinion it was seeking. A federal court judge has ruled the director of public prosecutions’ decision to bring SNC-Lavalin to trial on charges of fraud and corruption, rather than to negotiate a “remediation agreement” as the company preferred, was a proper exercise of her prosecutorial discretion.
Mar 7 2019 — Christie Blatchford — National Post — A month to the day that the scandal first broke, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has managed the improbable — both confirming key details of the deposed attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony (i.e., she was telling the truth) and revealing his own shallow grasp of what constitutes improper interference with the justice system and its highest […]
Mar 7 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau offered up a mea culpa over the SNC Lavalin affair that was more mea than culpa. The prime minister visited the National Press Theatre early Thursday before leaving for Iqaluit, where he was to apologize to northern Inuit residents for the federal government’s behaviour during the tuberculosis epidemics of the 1940s and 50s, […]
Mar 7 2019 — Matt Gurney — National Post — If this is the contrition option, it’s a bit light on contrition. Early on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a press conference on Parliament Hill. The prime minister’s remarks on Thursday came exactly one month after the original story in The Globe and Mail that set off this entire controversy. In those four […]
Mar 6 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — More than once in the course of his testimony to the Commons justice committee Gerald Butts said that he was not there to call anyone names or to cast aspersions on the character of Jody Wilson-Raybould. Which is why the prime minister’s former principal secretary confined himself to depicting her as sloppy, closed-minded and unco-operative, […]
Mar 6 2019 — Marni Soupcoff — National Post — Well, wasn’t that kind of Gerald Butts? In his testimony on SNC-Lavalin before the House of Commons justice committee Wednesday, the prime minister’s former principal secretary made it clear that he didn’t want to call anyone names. He had a completely different take from Jody Wilson-Raybould on much of what was said and what had […]
Mar 6 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Gerald Butts’ testimony at the justice committee did not present any exculpatory evidence that would exonerate the Trudeau government from allegations that it engaged in a pattern of interference in the independence of the attorney general. But he may have placed doubt in the minds of the jury. Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary made clear […]
Mar 6 2019 — Colby Cosh — National Post — On Wednesday, in testifying about the SNC-Lavalin scandal that has punched a hole in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, Gerald Butts left an impression of sincerity, or at least earnestness, and professed the best of intentions as Trudeau’s exiled principal secretary. Do you suppose it will help? The Liberal government’s SNC situation clearly has a traplike nature. […]
Mar 5 2019 — Maura Forrest — National Post — Since Jane Philpott’s resignation from cabinet on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s remaining ministers have rallied around him, declaring he still has their support. Many backbench MPs have also said they still have faith in the prime minister, despite the fallout from the SNC-Lavalin controversy. Still, there are some rumblings of uncertainty. On Tuesday morning, […]
Mar 5 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — The Liberal Party’s impulse to form a circular firing squad has created a moment in Canada’s political history that could change everything. What John Stuart Mill called “the deep slumber of decided opinion” has been disrupted and the public roused. The sense that Justin Trudeau was pre-destined to be prime minister for as long as […]
Mar 5 2019 — Tristin Hopper — National Post — It’s increasingly clear that Canada isn’t particularly happy with Justin Trudeau for allegedly trying to interfere with the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. As Jane Philpott said upon her resignation from cabinet on Monday, “the solemn principles at stake are the independence and integrity of our justice system.”
Mar 4 2019 — Chris Selley — National Post — Recent Canadian political history has seen more than one person leave a very successful life for politics, only to stagger back out of it considerably poorer, thoroughly discredited and covered in egg. Perhaps most spectacularly, David Livingston left a 30-year career as an executive at TD Bank to become CEO of Infrastructure Ontario. Seven years […]
Mar 4 2019 — Christie Blatchford — National Post — Does Justin Trudeau have a problem with women? That’s one of what I see as three possible explanations for the bombshell announcement Monday from Jane Philpott, the ethical pushback from Jody Wilson-Raybould over SNC-Lavalin and the recent decision of the formidable Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes not to run in the next election. Either the PM […]
Mar 4 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Jane Philpott just gave Justin Trudeau a lesson in doing politics differently. Resigning from cabinet on a matter of principle is so old-fashioned it evokes images of monocles, pocket watches and top hats. For many career politicians, their occupation is a substitute for a private life. They have accomplished little beyond politics and cannot contemplate […]
Mar 4 2019 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Of all the words written or spoken about the crisis devouring the Trudeau government, perhaps the most enlightening were the foolish remarks offered by Jati Sidhu, a Liberal member from British Columbia. “The way she’s acting, I think she couldn’t handle the stress,” he opined in the wake of Jody Wilson-Raybould’s astonishing testimony. “I think […]