(Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet this week.
Make no mistake: interference with a prosecution by influencing a prosecutor to go lightly or make a deal is a criminal matter
• Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt LLP. He practises employment law in eight provinces. Twitter.com/HowardLevittLaw
February 13, 2019
People naturally react more adversely to the misconduct they don’t expect than any bad behaviour they do. That is why the SNC-Lavalin scandal could be the downfall of the Trudeau government: Canadians expected sunny ways from this prime minister and his office — not alleged criminal deception.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has weathered scandals before. They did little real damage. Taking advantage of a billionaire’s private island, prancing around India in native garb while partying with a former Sikh terrorist, even allegations that he once sexually harassed a young reporter at a keg party didn’t ruin his reputation. After all, he was already viewed as callow, intellectually lightweight and entitled. All those mistakes were consistent with Canadians’ existing view of him.
But they were also led to believe he was open and accountable, which makes suggestions someone in the Prime Minister’s Office may have breached the Criminal Code quite another matter. And make no mistake: allegations of interference with a prosecution by influencing a prosecutor to go lightly or make a deal is a criminal matter. And it increasingly appears that he or a member of his staff did just that.
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