Globe and Mail Report Questions Prime Minister’s Office Integrity
OTTAWA – POLITICS – The Liberal Government is under fire from the Opposition over claims that surfaced in a Globe and Mail newspaper report that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office applied pressure to the Minister of Justice to drop investigations.
The Globe and Mail reported on February 7th, 2019 that senior officials in the PMO had exerted pressure on former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould seeking her to interfere in the corruption trial of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. According to the media reports, Wilson-Raybould was being asked to have a deal made in the case.
Opposition leader Andrew Scheer went after the Prime Minister today in Question Period.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister faced a media scrum and according to several political pundits, the Prime Minister would not directly answer the question directly if his office had attempted to influence the Justice Minister.
“The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false,” he said. “Neither the current nor the previous attorney general was ever directed by me or by anyone in my office to take a decision in this matter.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stated repeatedly that no one in his office had directed the Minister of Justice in the matter of SNC-Lavalin.
The accusation as reported by the Globe and Mail that officials attempted to influence the Justice Minister.
Social Media Reaction
The issue has hit social media hard. Warren Kinsella, a long-time Liberal pundit and former strategist in the Liberal war room under former Prime Minister Chretien writes on his website:
Is Justin Trudeau’s PMO corrupt? And did they punish the first female indigenous leader for refusing to go along with a dirty deal for their cronies?
This Globe and Mailstory strongly suggests the answer is yes, to both questions. If true, this is corruption at the very highest levels of the federal government.
I’ve known this story was coming, but didn’t know it would be this bad. It’s bad.
“This revelation, if true, is a clear violation of section 139(2) of the Criminal Code. Will the Conservatives, who have been lobbied just as aggressively by SNC Lavalin, do the right thing, and shut down Parliament until there is a Mueller-type independent inquiry? Will they, at the very least, swear a complaint with the RCMP? I’m not holding my breath.”
