Trudeau 'welcomes' ethics probe of alleged PMO interference in SNC-Lavalin case
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GOLDSTEIN: Justin Trudeau just wasn’t ready
Lorrie Goldstein
Published:
March 2, 2019
Updated:
March 2, 2019 12:14 PM EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits BlackBerry QNX Headquarters in Ottawa on Feb 15, 2019. (The Canadian Press)
So, as it turns out, the Conservative campaign ad in the 2015 federal election was correct.
Justin Trudeau wasn’t ready.
And now, we’re reaping the whirlwind.
We’re learning that electing a prime minister who would not have become prime minister, given the thinness of his resume, were his last name not “Trudeau,” has real-world consequences.
This as we listen to his implausible explanations for removing Jody Wilson-Raybould as Canada’s attorney general change by the hour, exposing the real reason — that she has political ethics and gravitas that he does not.
Story continues below
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The Liberal party that considers itself Canada’s natural governing party is in disarray under his leadership, its cabinet ministers and MPs reduced to uttering gibberish as they try to defend Trudeau’s indefensible actions in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
EDITORIAL: The fallout from Lavscam has begun
BONOKOSKI: Trudeau spins space fantasy orbiting SNC-Lavalin scandal
Because there’s no defence for a prime minister who — as Raybould’s calmly delivered but devastating four hours of testimony at the Commons justice committee revealed last week — puts his own partisan political interests and those of his party, above the national interest.
Above the interests of all Canadians in having a prime minister and a government that understands the importance of such basic concepts as prosecutorial independence and the rule of law.
Thus “things fall apart (and) the centre cannot hold,” as the Irish poet W.B. Yeats wrote a century ago, while “the best lack all conviction” and “the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and his principal secretary Gerald Butts take part in a meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 21, 2017. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)
Because beyond the narrow confines of the Ottawa political-media bubble, the corrosive effect of more than three years of Trudeau’s policies continues to undermine the body politic.
For example, the real-world consequences of having our national energy policy influenced by Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s recently resigned principal secretary, close friend and most powerful aide, who idiotically campaigned for a carbon free energy industry by 2050 in his last job as head of the World Wildlife Fund Canada.
A poll released Friday by Angus Reid Institute shows the new hotbed of popular support for separation in Canada is Alberta, not Quebec.
It found 50% of Albertans would support secession from Canada compared to an October 2016 poll showing 82% of Quebecers had no desire to revisit the issue of sovereignty any time soon.
Gerald Butts and Justin Trudeau on the steps of the Arts Building at McGill. (Photo courtesy Gerald Butts)
“In many ways, Quebec is getting a good deal in Canada,” pollster Angus Reid told the National Post.
“It’s getting all kinds of special treatment (see SNC-Lavalin) and so it’s not surprising Quebecers have largely abandoned the idea of separation for now Quebec is the favoured child of the nation while Alberta is the step-child who gets ignored.”
While support for separation in Alberta is not yet as great a threat to Canadian unity as the Quebec separatist movement in its heyday, according to Reid, it’s hardly surprising separatist sentiment is growing in a province where Trudeau’s promise that carbon taxes would give Alberta the “social licence” to build pipelines, has been an abject failure.
On a related front, Statistics Canada reported Friday that an unexpectedly severe slowdown in Canada’s economic growth in the final quarter of 2018 will likely continue and spread this year.
To be fair, federal policies are only one factor that impacts our economy. There are many others the government can’t control.
That said, and contrary to the world according to Justin Trudeau, we now know that deficits don’t balance themselves and growing the economy “from the heart outwards” is election rhetoric, not an economic plan.
Nice hair, though.
lgoldstein@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-justin-trudeau-just-wasnt-ready
Lorrie Goldstein
Published:
March 2, 2019
Updated:
March 2, 2019 12:14 PM EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits BlackBerry QNX Headquarters in Ottawa on Feb 15, 2019. (The Canadian Press)
So, as it turns out, the Conservative campaign ad in the 2015 federal election was correct.
Justin Trudeau wasn’t ready.
And now, we’re reaping the whirlwind.
We’re learning that electing a prime minister who would not have become prime minister, given the thinness of his resume, were his last name not “Trudeau,” has real-world consequences.
This as we listen to his implausible explanations for removing Jody Wilson-Raybould as Canada’s attorney general change by the hour, exposing the real reason — that she has political ethics and gravitas that he does not.
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet,
but your article continues below.
The Liberal party that considers itself Canada’s natural governing party is in disarray under his leadership, its cabinet ministers and MPs reduced to uttering gibberish as they try to defend Trudeau’s indefensible actions in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
EDITORIAL: The fallout from Lavscam has begun
BONOKOSKI: Trudeau spins space fantasy orbiting SNC-Lavalin scandal
Because there’s no defence for a prime minister who — as Raybould’s calmly delivered but devastating four hours of testimony at the Commons justice committee revealed last week — puts his own partisan political interests and those of his party, above the national interest.
Above the interests of all Canadians in having a prime minister and a government that understands the importance of such basic concepts as prosecutorial independence and the rule of law.
Thus “things fall apart (and) the centre cannot hold,” as the Irish poet W.B. Yeats wrote a century ago, while “the best lack all conviction” and “the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and his principal secretary Gerald Butts take part in a meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 21, 2017. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)
Because beyond the narrow confines of the Ottawa political-media bubble, the corrosive effect of more than three years of Trudeau’s policies continues to undermine the body politic.
For example, the real-world consequences of having our national energy policy influenced by Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s recently resigned principal secretary, close friend and most powerful aide, who idiotically campaigned for a carbon free energy industry by 2050 in his last job as head of the World Wildlife Fund Canada.
A poll released Friday by Angus Reid Institute shows the new hotbed of popular support for separation in Canada is Alberta, not Quebec.
It found 50% of Albertans would support secession from Canada compared to an October 2016 poll showing 82% of Quebecers had no desire to revisit the issue of sovereignty any time soon.
Gerald Butts and Justin Trudeau on the steps of the Arts Building at McGill. (Photo courtesy Gerald Butts)
“In many ways, Quebec is getting a good deal in Canada,” pollster Angus Reid told the National Post.
“It’s getting all kinds of special treatment (see SNC-Lavalin) and so it’s not surprising Quebecers have largely abandoned the idea of separation for now Quebec is the favoured child of the nation while Alberta is the step-child who gets ignored.”
While support for separation in Alberta is not yet as great a threat to Canadian unity as the Quebec separatist movement in its heyday, according to Reid, it’s hardly surprising separatist sentiment is growing in a province where Trudeau’s promise that carbon taxes would give Alberta the “social licence” to build pipelines, has been an abject failure.
On a related front, Statistics Canada reported Friday that an unexpectedly severe slowdown in Canada’s economic growth in the final quarter of 2018 will likely continue and spread this year.
To be fair, federal policies are only one factor that impacts our economy. There are many others the government can’t control.
That said, and contrary to the world according to Justin Trudeau, we now know that deficits don’t balance themselves and growing the economy “from the heart outwards” is election rhetoric, not an economic plan.
Nice hair, though.
lgoldstein@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-justin-trudeau-just-wasnt-ready
GOLDSTEIN: Justin Trudeau just wasn’t ready
Lorrie Goldstein
Published:
March 2, 2019
Updated:
March 2, 2019 12:14 PM EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits BlackBerry QNX Headquarters in Ottawa on Feb 15, 2019. (The Canadian Press)
So, as it turns out, the Conservative campaign ad in the 2015 federal election was correct.
Justin Trudeau wasn’t ready.
And now, we’re reaping the whirlwind.
We’re learning that electing a prime minister who would not have become prime minister, given the thinness of his resume, were his last name not “Trudeau,” has real-world consequences.
This as we listen to his implausible explanations for removing Jody Wilson-Raybould as Canada’s attorney general change by the hour, exposing the real reason — that she has political ethics and gravitas that he does not.
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet,
but your article continues below.
The Liberal party that considers itself Canada’s natural governing party is in disarray under his leadership, its cabinet ministers and MPs reduced to uttering gibberish as they try to defend Trudeau’s indefensible actions in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
EDITORIAL: The fallout from Lavscam has begun
BONOKOSKI: Trudeau spins space fantasy orbiting SNC-Lavalin scandal
Because there’s no defence for a prime minister who — as Raybould’s calmly delivered but devastating four hours of testimony at the Commons justice committee revealed last week — puts his own partisan political interests and those of his party, above the national interest.
Above the interests of all Canadians in having a prime minister and a government that understands the importance of such basic concepts as prosecutorial independence and the rule of law.
Thus “things fall apart (and) the centre cannot hold,” as the Irish poet W.B. Yeats wrote a century ago, while “the best lack all conviction” and “the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and his principal secretary Gerald Butts take part in a meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 21, 2017. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)
Because beyond the narrow confines of the Ottawa political-media bubble, the corrosive effect of more than three years of Trudeau’s policies continues to undermine the body politic.
For example, the real-world consequences of having our national energy policy influenced by Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s recently resigned principal secretary, close friend and most powerful aide, who idiotically campaigned for a carbon free energy industry by 2050 in his last job as head of the World Wildlife Fund Canada.
A poll released Friday by Angus Reid Institute shows the new hotbed of popular support for separation in Canada is Alberta, not Quebec.
It found 50% of Albertans would support secession from Canada compared to an October 2016 poll showing 82% of Quebecers had no desire to revisit the issue of sovereignty any time soon.
Gerald Butts and Justin Trudeau on the steps of the Arts Building at McGill. (Photo courtesy Gerald Butts)
“In many ways, Quebec is getting a good deal in Canada,” pollster Angus Reid told the National Post.
“It’s getting all kinds of special treatment (see SNC-Lavalin) and so it’s not surprising Quebecers have largely abandoned the idea of separation for now Quebec is the favoured child of the nation while Alberta is the step-child who gets ignored.”
While support for separation in Alberta is not yet as great a threat to Canadian unity as the Quebec separatist movement in its heyday, according to Reid, it’s hardly surprising separatist sentiment is growing in a province where Trudeau’s promise that carbon taxes would give Alberta the “social licence” to build pipelines, has been an abject failure.
On a related front, Statistics Canada reported Friday that an unexpectedly severe slowdown in Canada’s economic growth in the final quarter of 2018 will likely continue and spread this year.
To be fair, federal policies are only one factor that impacts our economy. There are many others the government can’t control.
That said, and contrary to the world according to Justin Trudeau, we now know that deficits don’t balance themselves and growing the economy “from the heart outwards” is election rhetoric, not an economic plan.
Nice hair, though.
lgoldstein@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-justin-trudeau-just-wasnt-ready
Yes...............it has now been confirmed that Our idiot Boy "is not ready"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is just too bad that the TRUTH IS HE WILL NEVER BE READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JW-R credibility took a little hit in my eyes this morning, listening to CBCNN this morning they reported that she intends to stay in the party and seek re-election this fall. IMO if she was un-happy with Sunny ways she should have announced not seeking re-election this fall, but remain until then to serve her constituents. Run for leadership after the Lib. defeat this fall. This way her integrity could not be questioned making her a favourite to win leadership and win over many Canadians in the 2023 election. By demanding to run this fall in a way shows that she is shallow, endorsing the current leadership and damaging her integrity to an extent. Again IMO
Your new word for the day is 'Libya'. When you read something and you are confused you are supposed to go back and read it again, Repeat until there is no confusion. If you want me ti fix it you next destination is 'Locker-bee' or whatever that place is a plane fell on.
The world is my witness that you were like that when I stumbled into you.
Where did I say that made me right? I said your opinion relies on a lot of parameters you have no control over. If your 'opinion' goes the other way you would be clueless. Time is needed to find out which is which. If she tanks her own party no other party is going to give her a home.
You should know by now.This is Mhz's brain
Give it a spin and you never know what's going to come out
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201902221072642784-canada-trudeau-snc-lavalin-corruption-liberals/
Author on SNC-Lavalin Scandal: Whole Affair Raises Issue of Corruption in Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's principal secretary Gerald Butts resigned on Monday amid a growing scandal concerning the allegations that PMO tried to interfere with the potential criminal trial of Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
Sputnik discussed this story with Rémi Tremblay, the editor of Le Harfang and a contributor to the Council of Euro-Canadian and the author of Le Canada français, de Jacques Cartier au génocide tranquille.
Sputnik: How seriously will the Trudeau scandal hurt his chances of victory in the next election? Do you think it is a coincidence that this scandal emerged just a few months before the election campaign will officially begin?
Rémi Tremblay: The timing could not be worst for the Liberals, with the elections being just around the corner. It is extremely hard to evaluate the impact on the vote, but ethics has always been the Achille's heel of the federal Liberals. One of the reasons that explain the Conservative victory of 2006 is the corruption scandal revealed by the Gomery commission of inquiry. It took ten years for the Liberals to finally regain Canadians' trust and this new scandal will certainly hurt them. The question is simply to what extent. To add to that, although the decision has nothing to do with politics, Stéphane Roy, a former SNC-Lavalin employee accused of being involved in the corruption scandal in Libya, has seen his charges dismissed this month because the judicial procedures were too long. For many Canadians, it gives the feeling that the men involved will be able to avoid facing justice for what they have done. It is hard to believe that the timing of the revelations is a coincidence, but we must keep in mind that it is the Globe and Mail that first unveiled this scandal to the public. The Globe can definitely not be labelled a Conservative newspaper. We can doubt that it was published to intentionally hurt Trudeau's campaign. In fact, Trudeau could have tried defusing the whole affair and ensured the story deflated quickly and be long forgotten by this fall's elections.
Sputnik: Just this week it was revealed that Gerald Butts resigned as Justin Trudeau's principal secretary on Monday. How important was Gerald Butts to Trudeau administration?
Rémi Tremblay: Butts, although he may not be well-known to the general public was Trudeau's policy maker, his mastermind as well as a close friend since McGill's years. In September 2015, Macleans ran an article about Butts, describing him as the man who "has shaped and branded the vast majority of policy" that Trudeau campaigned on. Since then, his influence has increased, not decreased and he was called "PM Butts" by some Liberal caucus members. Trudeau, who sees himself as a delegate, an ambassador, relied on Butts for actual policy-making and explained to his MPs that what Butts said could be considered to be Trudeau's own thoughts. Trudeau Senior had Gérard Pelletier, and Trudeau Junior had Gerald Butts.
Sputnik: Both other major parties (the Conservatives & NDP) have spoken out in support of a public inquiry into the Trudeau SNC-Lavalin scandal. Could this lead to new revelations?
Rémi Tremblay: The question that is still left unanswered is the personal involvement of Trudeau. The pressure on Jody Wilson-Raybould and the fact that she was subsequently downgraded to the Veteran Affairs, even if she had been a much publicized caucus member, shows that the pressure came from the top of the government. The resignation of Butts gives the impression that he was the one who actually put pressure to avoid prosecutions for SNC-Lavalin, but he could very well be taking the shot for his personal friend Trudeau. Has tried taking the blame to save private Trudeau? It is the impression left by the move and it is what the Conservatives and Neo-Democrats would like to know.
Sputnik: The SNC-Lavalin construction firm (which is involved in the criminal case) is based in Quebec. Is this the company's first such scandal? Do you think the construction giant financially contributed to the Liberal Party?
Rémi Tremblay: The way the whole affair was handled by the government does raise legitimate questions. It is now said that the decision for not suing the company was based on economically based reasons. With around 16 000 employees in Canada, its bankruptcy or major losses could have had a major impact on the economy. However, it is extremely hard to believe that the Liberals did so for economic reasons. If it was so, they would probably have been open about it and not acted the way they did. If the reason was purely rational and for the benefits of Canadians, the Liberals would have been open and transparent about it and would not have pressured and later retrograded Wilson-Raybould.
The thing is the Liberals have had many issues with ethics and corruption in the last decades, so their credibility is limited at best. And we must not forget that SNC-Lavalin is itself accused of corruption. So the whole affair is suspicious, not to say more. As for SNC-Lavalin, allegations of corruption and fraud have been made several times in the past. Since 2010, it has been caught in a fraud linked to McGill's superhospital, bribery in Bengladesh, and was denied contracts by the World Banks because of wrongdoings in Cambodia. It has been hit by the longest ban ever imposed by the World Bank. So there again, it is far from being a spotless record and the credibility is questionable.
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201903031072904040-canada-snc-lavalin-trudeau-corruption-scandal/
SNC-Lavalin Case Hits Trudeau's Progressive, Transparent Minister Image - Prof
Former Canadian Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould has testified that Trudeau's office allegedly put pressure on her to help the Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin avoid corruption charges on millions of dollars of bribes to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's government.
According to Canadian media, among other accusations, SNC-Lavalin is under investigation into alleged payments of nearly $48 million to public officials in Libya between 2001-2011 to influence local government decisions.
Canada's opposition leader, heading the Conservative Party, Andrew Scheer called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign. The scandal around the Trudeau administration has resulted in an uproar among lawmakers who held emergency debates on the situation late Thursday.
Raybould-Wilson is the messenger and not the message. The message is the corruption surrounding the current Federal Gov't and this whole SNC Lavolin goat rodeo and the BS snuck into an Omnibus Bill to cowtow to Quebec votes for Justin Trudeau regardless of the point of law and the position of the Attorney General.
Who was in charge of Canada in that decade (2000-2010), it was the Conservatives. JT should be pushing for exposure as it would be their black-eye rather than his career being the issue. Stopping it protect people higher up on the food-chain rather than the lower ones. That is just what JT is doing and he will parrot the same line until the crows come home, he will also be well rewarded for keeping a lid on things by these same ones..
SNC Lavolin committed it's crimes (the ones they're currently facing prosecution for at this point) in that time frame, and the investigation into those crimes began in that time frame, and they where charged with those crimes in that time frame. The Prosecution of those crimes is happening in this time frame....except that this prosecution is being obstructed in this current time frame (not 2000-2010). It's past Justin blaming Stevie for this one as the obstruction is being committed by Mr. Trudeau now and not Mr. Harper then.
The Deferred Prosecution tool snuck into the Liberal's omnibus bill isn't applicable to SNC Lavolin anyway regardless of what Justin Trudeau wants and how much interference he tries to impose upon the office of the Attorney General.
From: http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ott...-push-for-deferred-prosecution-came-up-short/
The law does give prosecutors latitude to consider the national economic interest in their deliberations. But the legislative summary for Bill C-74 makes clear that prosecutors can only do so in cases that don’t involve bribery of foreign officials, which is exactly what SNC stands accused of doing.
What amazes me is that people here still think that the Liberals and the Conservatives represent the people. They are both so far up the ruling elite's ass they don't represent the people at all. Vote in the conservatives and we will all be just as fukked as we are under the liberals. Wake up people. The system is stacked against us all. We need to get rid of the party system. The only way to have true representation of the people is if every politician runs as an independent.