February 26, 2019
Banned internationally, jailed in Quebec, controversial in Ottawa — but it’s business as usual in B.C.
It isn’t a surprise to anyone familiar with the company that SNC-Lavalin is back in the news again. The allegations coming out of Ottawa against the engineering giant are fascinating, but not shocking. SNC-Lavalin featured prominently in Quebec’s Charbonneau Commission and is internationally infamous for corruption and fraud. Given their torrid history, it’s no small stretch to imagine they could have pressured the Prime Minister’s Office.
With such a lengthy rap sheet, why has SNC-Lavalin continued to be awarded massive government contracts in B.C.? And why are they still being considered for upcoming projects in our province, including the Pattullo Bridge replacement and the Broadway subway station?
Lavalin’s latest scandal
In February 2015, the Montreal-based company was charged with corruption and fraud by the RCMP for work they had done in Libya. SNC-Lavalin is accused of embezzlement and bribery paid to dictator Muammar Ghaddafi’s family in order to receive construction contracts. If they were to be convicted, the company would no longer be able to bid on Canadian government contracts, which makes up a significant chunk of their business. Government contracts were estimated in 2016 to make up about 20 per cent of the corporation’s business. They signed at least $68 million in contracts for the federal government last year alone.
When the Liberals won the federal election and Justin Trudeau moved into the Prime Minister’s Office, SNC-Lavalin lobbied the new government for a change to the Criminal Code that would allow what are essentially plea bargains for corporations accused of serious crimes. This became law in June 2018 — tucked away in a corner of a massive omnibus budget bill — and SNC-Lavalin set out to secure one of these “deferred prosecution agreements.” But prosecutors refused to play ball.
That’s when, sources allege, the most senior figures in the Liberal government embarked on a months-long campaign to pressure the Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to call off the prosecution.
It is worth noting that in 2016, Elections Canada found $118,000 in political contributions to the Liberals and Conservatives were donated illegally by SNC-Lavalin. It seems company employees and their spouses were asked by company leadership to donate to the political parties and then were reimbursed by the company, a practice that started as far back as 2004.
The vast majority of these donations went to the Liberal Party of Canada. Of the $118,000 found to be in violation of the Elections Act, almost $110,000 went to the Liberal party, its riding associations or leadership candidates.
Bad reputation
It is worth examining the company at the heart of this scandal — and it makes you wonder what kind of politician would make a deal with them. SNC-Lavalin is recognized as a bad actor both at home and abroad.
The multi-million dollar bribes for the Ghaddafi family in Libya — including a luxury yacht and penthouse apartments in Toronto — provide just one window into how the corporation operates. SNC-Lavalin was blacklisted by the World Bank for corruption in Bangladesh and Cambodia. It has been accused of bribery for a power station project in Kerala, India.
In 2013, Canada topped the World Bank corruption list — 117 of the 250 blackballed companies were based in our country. 115 of those 117 belonged to SNC-Lavalin and its affiliates.
And they’re not just accused of bribing officials in tin-pot dictatorships overseas. As a major contractor in Quebec, SNC-Lavalin was at the centre of the Charbonneau Commission. The company is facing charges in Quebec for fraud related to Montreal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge. Earlier this month, former CEO Pierre Duhaime pleaded guilty to bribery related to a contract to build the McGill University Health Centre, a $1.3 billion superhospital. He is now serving 20 months on house arrest. Senior executive Riadh Ben Aissa pleaded guilty to using forged documents related to the hospital and is currently serving 51 months in prison.
Next stop, British Columbia
You’ve probably seen SNC-Lavalin’s signs a little closer to home. While the company is not allowed to work on World Bank contracts, and still faces a possible ban on Canadian government contracts, it continues to be involved in a number of projects in B.C.
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