OTTAWA -- Jody Wilson-Raybould says she was subjected to a months-long "sustained effort" from nearly a dozen senior government officials to pressure her into doing what she could as then-attorney general to have federal prosecutors drop criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin.
“For a period of approximately four months, between September and December of 2018, I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role of Attorney General of Canada, in an inappropriate effort to secure a prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin,” she said Wednesday.
Wilson-Raybould is testifying before the House Justice Committee on the SNC-Lavalin scandal, which centres on allegations of political interference in a criminal case. In her opening remarks she said that the alleged pressure included "veiled threats" if she did not change her mind.
The allegations she is responding to are whether or not she felt pressured by senior government officials when she was attorney general to instruct federal prosecutors to drop the criminal prosecution of the Quebec construction and engineering giant and pursue a remediation agreement instead.
Through a more-than-30-minute opening statement she detailed chronologically a series of communications with her office, ranging from in-person meetings and phone calls, to text messages and emails from 11 senior staffers from the Prime Minister's Office, Privy Council Office, and the finance minister's office.
Wilson-Raybould said she was consistently reminded of the potential political implications in Quebec, should SNC-Lavalin be found guilty in this case and therefore no longer be able to apply for federal contracts, possibly leading to the company moving out of Canada.
During one conversation she said she had with the prime minister, she directly asked him if he was politically interfering in her role, after he allegedly referenced being the MP for Papineau, Que.
“The prime minister said, ‘No, no, no, we just need to find a solution,’” Wilson-Raybould said.
In another exchange, Wilson-Raybould named Ben Chin, who is Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s chief of staff. She said that he spoke with her then-chief of staff Jessica Prince to say that extending a deferred prosecution agreement to SNC-Lavalin needed to happen out of fear the company would relocate.
"In my view these events constituted pressure," she told the committee.
This is the first time she is speaking publicly since the controversy began unfolding. Throughout her testimony she has cautioned her limitations in being able to speak broadly about the case because of the specifics of the waiver of solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had issued.
Despite this, Wilson-Raybould has offered an in-depth detailing of approximately 20 exchanges specifically on the SNC-Lavalin case while she was still attorney general and justice minister. She is not able to speak about any relevant matters that occurred after she was shuffled into veterans affairs.
Wilson-Raybould believes her subsequent shuffling was the result of her refusing to change her mind about this case, something she says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denied.
“In my view, the communications and efforts to change my mind on this matter should have stopped. Various officials also urged me to take partisan, political considerations into account, which it was clearly improper for me to do so. We either have a system that is based on the rule of law, the independence of prosecutorial functions, and respect for those charged to use their discretion and powers in a particular way, or we do not,” Wilson-Raybould told the committee.
“While in our system of government, policy-oriented discussion amongst people at early points in this conversation may be appropriate, the consistent and enduring efforts, even in the face of judicial proceedings on the same matter, and in the face of a clear decision of the director of public prosecutions and the attorney general to continue and even intensify such efforts, raises serious red flags in my view. Yet, this is what continued to happen,” she said.
Wilson-Raybould is now taking questions from MPs on the committee. In their opening comments to her, both Conservative MP Lisa Raitt and NDP MP Murray Rankin told Wilson-Raybould that they believe everything she has said, and applauded her courage for speaking out.
“Mr. Chair, I have to say that I am very shaken by what I’ve heard here today. I’ve been a lawyer for over 40 years, I’ve taught a generation of law students about the rule of law, and what I’ve heard today should make all Canadians extremely upset,” said Rankin.
“Now, Ms. Wilson-Raybould, we’re both from British Columbia. We’ve known each other for many years and I need you to know that I believe you, entirely.”
Raitt, sitting next to Rankin on the committee, nodded her head in agreement.
“I need you to know that,” Murray continued, “and I want you to know as well that I very much admire your courage in being here and telling Canadians what you have experienced, because I believe --believe you, which I do -- that there is no other conclusion that once can reasonably draw that there was a sustained, consistent effort to interfere politically with the critical role that an attorney general must play in our legal system.”
During her opening remarks, some opposition members appeared taken aback by what they were hearing. There are several more opposition members in attendance for the meeting than usual and the viewing gallery inside the room is full.