Jump to content

Canadian Politics


Recommended Posts

Justin Trudeau, imposter

Paul Wells

5 hrs ago

 

Conservatives would win 2019 federal election if it were held today: Poll

 

Trudeau promised a new approach to politics. Now he’s mired in scandal

 

Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft.

© Used with permission of / © Rogers Media Inc. 2019. Prime Minister Trudeau in his Centre Block office in Ottawa on Dec. 8, 2016. (Adam Scotti/PMO)

The story a few Liberals were telling privately, in the early hours after Jody Wilson-Raybould delivered her extraordinary testimony to the Commons justice committee about the endless procession of men who tried to make her cancel a criminal trial for SNC-Lavalin, was that she just didn’t get it.

The former attorney general is a nice enough sort, the story went, but she doesn’t really understand the way the world works. The whole point of amending the Criminal Code to provide for deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) was to make that option—a sort of negotiated fine in lieu of a trial for fraud and bribery—available to SNC-Lavalin. And if the option was available, why not use it? Jobs were at stake. Elections were at stake. Elections, plural, for Pete’s sake. First an election in Quebec last autumn, then a federal election this autumn.

So you could drag SNC through the mud of a court trial, long after the individual executives who actually did any frauding and bribing had fled the company, for what? To visit punishments upon everyone else in the company? To maybe scare it out of Montreal for good? To endanger the jobs of thousands of fine upstanding Quebecers and other Canadians? On the eve of elections? Plural?

READ MORE: Trudeau and senior Liberals kept linking SNC-Lavalin prosecution to elections

All of this was just so obvious to everyone who leaned on Wilson-Raybould, it was said privately. What the heck was she missing? Why didn’t she get it?

If it’s any comfort to the former attorney general, at least she can rest assured that she’s not the only person who didn’t get that blindingly obvious fix-the-Criminal-Code-to-suit-SNC-Lavalin-and-save-jobs-and-Liberal-hides connection. Because also out of the loop were the people of Canada. And if we were out of the loop, it’s because Justin Trudeau and his apparently inexhaustible supply of yes-men worked hard to keep us uninformed.

No part of the plan to save SNC-Lavalin was presented to the people of Canada, while it was being deployed, as a plan to save SNC-Lavalin. Who had called for the thing? Small businesses and NGOs, a Justice Department official said when the House Finance Committee inquired last autumn. The Quebec engineering giant was never mentioned in her testimony.

When the government inserted the DPAs into the Criminal Code, how did it announce the move? With a single paragraph on page 202 of the 2018 federal budget document, under the catchy heading “Addressing corporate integrity.” You really had to go to page 202 to learn anything at all about the scheme. Finance Minister Bill Morneau made no mention of it in his nationally televised budget speech.

And how was the DPA described on page 202, for insatiably curious or insomniac readers who might stumble across it? As a way to get tough on corporate wrongdoers. DPAs would be “an additional tool to hold corporate offenders to account,” the document said. They would “sanction criminal conduct appropriately and deter wrongdoing.”

Now, a federal budget document is a bulky thing, drafted and reviewed by dozens of government employees. They found no room in its 367 pages to mention that SNC had been pleading for this tough accountability crackdown for months. At massive expense. As a handy rule of thumb, corporate offenders don’t usually plead for additional tools to hold them to account.

RELATED: SNC-Lavalin’s allies in its push to avoid prosecution

Long story short, the government of Canada was telling one story to itself and another to Canadians. To themselves, they said they were protecting jobs. To the rest of us, they said they were getting tough. A government that indulges in that much sustained double-talk clearly thinks it has something to hide. It’s being disingenuous. It’s being phony. And since the lot of them never stop calling themselves #TeamTrudeau on Twitter, I guess we can, without fear of contradiction, say the Prime Minister of Canada has been the phony-in-chief.

If Trudeau is now saying his only priority was to save jobs, it’s because he got caught. If he refuses to say out loud what a majestic procession of Liberal minions kept telling Wilson-Raybould behind closed doors—that he was especially interested in saving Liberal jobs in back-to-back election years—it’s because that’s the kind of guy he is. He low-bridged a major change to criminal prosecutions while a large company was facing charges, depicting as a crackdown what was actually an escape hatch, because he didn’t dare simply say what he wanted. Didn’t think it would pass the smell test of the Canadian people. Didn’t think what he was doing was defensible.

And he was right.

Edited by kelownabomberfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

However, I have been considering the events that have shaken the federal government in recent weeks and after serious reflection, I have concluded that I must resign as a member of Cabinet.

In Canada, the constitutional convention of Cabinet solidarity means, among other things, that ministers are expected to defend all Cabinet decisions. A minister must always be prepared to defend other ministers publicly, and must speak in support of the government and its policies. Given this convention and the current circumstances, it is untenable for me to continue to serve as a Cabinet minister.

Unfortunately, the evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former Attorney General to intervene in the criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin, and the evidence as to the content of those efforts have raised serious concerns for me. Those concerns have been augmented by the views expressed by my constituents and other Canadians.

The solemn principles at stake are the independence and integrity of our justice system. It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our Attorney General should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases. Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised.

http://jphilpott.liberal.ca/news-nouvelles/statement/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We threw the Liberals out on their asses not that long ago because of scandals and corruptions, now look where we are, right back at it with the blatant favouritism shown by that party towards Quebec fracturing the national unity. Say what you will about the Conservatives but at least they treated all the provinces equally. 

Just blows my mind how many people thought that the Liberals would change because they put the son of the guy who started all that BS from the Liberals in charge. I felt like I was taking crazy pills all these years. Yeah people might not have liked Harper, but Trudeau being seen as some breath of fresh air... not a ******* chance. Guy was a pretty face for the puppet masters to hide behind the whole time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Well you can take the Stockwell Day route which is what he's taking so far or start acting tough with these traitors.

Who's a traitor?  The cabinet members who are standing up for the rule of law and freedom of the justice department?  

I lean conservative so I have no love for JT but I cant imagine any liberal looking at this and thinking JT is doing a great job and being screwed by his party.  If we can vilify Trump for trying to lean on his AG, then we have to feel the same way when JT does it too.  To me, it looks like honourable members of the Liberal party wanting to save the liberals, not turn on them.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Who's a traitor?  The cabinet members who are standing up for the rule of law and freedom of the justice department?  

I lean conservative so I have no love for JT but I cant imagine any liberal looking at this and thinking JT is doing a great job and being screwed by his party.  If we can vilify Trump for trying to lean on his AG, then we have to feel the same way when JT does it too.  To me, it looks like honourable members of the Liberal party wanting to save the liberals, not turn on them.  

I am joking partially. I think he is done but I kinda want him to go nuclear on this and I do not lean conservative.

So much fun.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Trudeau absolutely must resign. He's a liability as party leader and he's lost all of his good will. If the Liberals want a shot at winning time to jettison the dead weight..... Nice hair though. 

I don't see him resigning. IMO, best case scenario in the next election for the Liberals, if they're led by Trudeau, is a Conservative minority. Philpott's resignation was a huge kick in the nuts for Trudeau.

It just sucks the best the Conservatives could come up with for leadership is Scheer.

Edited by sweep the leg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

I don't see him resigning. IMO, best case scenario in the next election for the Liberals, if they're led by Trudeau, is a Conservative minority. Philpott's resignation was a huge kick in the nuts for Trudeau.

It just sucks the best the Conservatives could come up with for leadership is Scheer.

Minority win by either is interesting. If you look at what happened in B.C. the Governor General (?) might be more accommodating to a 2nd/3rd place combo with guarantee of no elections for 4 years then a Harper minority gamble of no partnership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Minority win by either is interesting. If you look at what happened in B.C. the Governor General (?) might be more accommodating to a 2nd/3rd place combo with guarantee of no elections for 4 years then a Harper minority gamble of no partnership.

I would be happy with a Liberal minority propped up by the NDP. There needs to be some better checks and balances. 

Edited by wanna-b-fanboy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...