Face of Nation : Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remained dogged Thursday that he doesn’t need to apologize for his role in the SNC-Lavalin affair, a day after Canada’s ethics watchdog found he violated the Conflict of Interest Act by trying to influence the former attorney general while she was dealing with the SNC-Lavalin case.
During an announcement in Fredericton on Thursday morning, Trudeau was asked by a reporter how he can take responsibility, but not apologize.
“I’m not going to apologize for standing up for Canadians’ jobs because that’s my job — to make sure that Canadians, communities and families across the country are supported, and that’s what I will always do,” he responded. Trudeau’s comments echoed his resolve Wednesday, following the release of the report by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion, that while he takes full responsibility for the SNC-Lavalin affair, he refuses to apologize.
The report found the prime minister violated the Conflict of Interest Act by trying to influence Jody Wilson-Raybould and get her to overrule a decision to not grant a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) to the Quebec-based engineering firm. “The evidence showed there were many ways in which Mr. Trudeau, either directly or through the actions of those under his direction, sought to influence the attorney general,” Dion said in his report.
Trudeau spoke in Fredericton after former Liberal MP Jane Philpott, who resigned as cabinet minister at the height of the SNC-Lavalin controversy, released a statement saying the report “speaks for itself” on the prime minister’s actions.
“I am saddened by the impact of these events on our country. At the same time, I trust that Canada can emerge from this stronger than ever,” she wrote. “We live in a country where elected officials can and must defend the public institutions that underpin our democracy.” “The conflict of interest and ethics commissioner determined that the prime minister violated the Conflict of Interest Act, and my take from what I hear from Canadians is that they would appreciate greatly an apology from the prime minister for having breached that obligation that he had to comply with the act. I hope that it’s forthcoming.”
Philpott said she was particularly troubled by just how much access SNC-Lavalin had to the prime minister and senior officials in his office. Officials from the company aggressively lobbied the government to create an alternative legal avenue for corporate wrongdoing — lobbying efforts that ultimately led to the creation of the DPA regime in the 2018 federal budget.
“Many of the things in the report I was aware of, but I was not aware of all the things that came out in this week’s report,” Philpott told host Chris Hall. “It was disturbing, it was unsettling to me to realize the extent to which officials took steps to be able to benefit the interests of a private corporation.”
