The surprising resignation of Prime Minister Trudeau’s principal secretary Gerald Butts, and the equally surprising testimony of Clerk of The Privy Council Michael Wernick before the justice committee (during which he confirmed that pressure had indeed been exerted on Justice Minister Jody Wison-Raybould) were both likely intended to somewhat alleviate the SNC-Lavalin mess; instead, they exacerbated it.
Because Butts didn’t give a viable reason for quitting (“not wanting to be a distraction” is as laughable as Prime Minister Trudeau’s evasions during question period), speculation is rife as to why he jumped ship. One possible reason is that the Liberal caucus finally had enough of this non-elected autocrat, and the problems his dogmatic ideology and impenetrable sway over the prime minister have caused, that Trudeau had to jettison him in order to avoid a revolt by a number of Liberal MPs. Another is that Jody Wilson-Raybould insisted that Butts’ head was the price Trudeau had to pay to bring her back into the fold (Ralph Goodale has said that she may actually return to cabinet). Still another is that if Wilson-Raybould is ever unmuzzled, Gerald Butts and the prime minister will take another serious credibility hit.
There are important elements of this mess that need to be kept in the forefront and not lost in the semantic bafflegab of the cover-up. Let’s start with the most important one: the requirements of the legislation that SNC-Lavalin lobbied to take advantage of seem to make it clear that the company doesn’t even qualify.
Then there’s the fact that this legislation was introduced by Finance Minister Bill Morneau (not, as it should have been, by the minister of justice) and was hidden away in the 850 pages of his 2018 omnibus budget bill, making Justin Trudeau’s frequent criticism of the previous government for using omnibus bills hypocritical in the extreme. It’s been reported that when this particular legislation was discussed at the finance committee, even the Liberal chair, and at least one other Liberal MP, questioned the appropriateness of its inclusion in the budget bill.
Next there’s the fact that SNC-Lavalin lobbied the government at least fourteen times on matters of “law enforcement and justice.” Why a construction company would lobby this aggressively about legal matters is yet to be explained, especially when it has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Liberal party, a lot of which was found to have been contributed illegally.
Finally, there’s the questionable argument that if SNC-Lavalin doesn’t get the special treatment it has lobbied so hard for, thousands of Canadian jobs will be lost. This company is in the construction business. Any contracts that it loses, or will not be eligible to get, will eagerly be picked up by other companies, so it’s highly unlikely that thousands of employees will be out of work, they’ll just be working for a different employer. Also, many legal experts have pointed out that the terms of the legislation make it clear that the possibility of job losses is not to be taken into consideration.
One thing is certain about this mess, and another is possible. The certainty is that for over two weeks the Liberals have been involved in a massive, and largely ineffective, cover-up. The possibility is that there’s more trouble on the horizon. Wilson-Raybould rose on a point of order in parliament on Wednesday and said, “…I hope I have the opportunity to speak my truth.” It could well be that the key to this whole mess is what happened at a meeting she had with Gerald Butts on December 5, 2018; and the details of that one are still under wraps.
Getting back to Wernick. Despite the accolades being heaped on him for his testimony before the commons justice committee, questions remain. Why was he even trying to "contextualize" for the minister of justice the possible advantages to SNC-Lavalin under the so-called remediation legislation when, as previously mentioned, the company clearly doesn't qualify? Why does he think that political pressure has to rise to the level of being unlawful in order to be inappropriate? To what extent did Wernick himself bow to pressure from Trudeau and Butts?
However this mess eventually plays out, the Liberals in general, and Trudeau in particular, are at a point where politicians never want to be: people are beginning to laugh at them.
(For those of you who may be wondering, SNC stands for Surveyer Nenniger & Cheneert.)