For the first time since 2019, the RCMP have confirmed their investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair remains ongoing..Democracy Watch released the findings in a press release which came as a result of a July 27, 2022 inquiry to the RCMP under the Access to Information Act..On May 25, 2023, the RCMP finally replied by letter to confirm their investigation continues into the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, some members of their staff, and former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, obstructed justice by pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in 2018..Attached to the response letter was a 96-page document with 86 pages fully redacted because “this matter is currently under investigation.”.Only Democracy Watch’s 5-page February 2021 letter to the RCMP was unredacted. Another four pages were fully redacted because they are “not relevant” and one page because it was “redundant”..This is the first public statement the RCMP has made about the situation since August 14, 2019 when it stated that it was examining the situation carefully..On September 10, 2019, the Globe and Mail reported that Ian Shugart, then-Clerk of the Privy Council, had refused to waive Cabinet confidence to allow government witnesses to provide full information to the RCMP..Sources in the RCMP told the paper they were putting the examination on hold through the fall 2019 federal election campaign period. The next day former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould stated publicly that she had been interviewed by the RCMP about the actions of the Prime Minister and others..“The RCMP should have confirmed long ago that it was investigating the situation given the evidence, and that more than four years have passed since the situation was made public, and almost four years since the Ethics Commissioner’s ruling finding that Prime Minister Trudeau violated the federal ethics law pressuring the Attorney General,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch..“Given four years have passed, it is difficult to believe that the investigation has not been completed, and it raises many questions for the RCMP to answer.”.Democracy Watch sent a letter to the RCMP in February 2021 setting out the grounds for prosecuting for obstruction of justice, and calling on the RCMP and Crown prosecutors to issue a full, public explanation about the state of the examination. Although this letter is included in the 96-page record disclosed by the RCMP, they did not respond in any way before May 2023..Conacher wonders why the information request and investigation itself have taken so long..“Are the RCMP and prosecutors waiting for a third federal election to pass, or doing what often happens in Canada when powerful politicians and government officials are involved in alleged illegal activities — delaying with the hope that they can eventually bury the results of the investigation?” asked Conacher.
For the first time since 2019, the RCMP have confirmed their investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair remains ongoing..Democracy Watch released the findings in a press release which came as a result of a July 27, 2022 inquiry to the RCMP under the Access to Information Act..On May 25, 2023, the RCMP finally replied by letter to confirm their investigation continues into the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, some members of their staff, and former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, obstructed justice by pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in 2018..Attached to the response letter was a 96-page document with 86 pages fully redacted because “this matter is currently under investigation.”.Only Democracy Watch’s 5-page February 2021 letter to the RCMP was unredacted. Another four pages were fully redacted because they are “not relevant” and one page because it was “redundant”..This is the first public statement the RCMP has made about the situation since August 14, 2019 when it stated that it was examining the situation carefully..On September 10, 2019, the Globe and Mail reported that Ian Shugart, then-Clerk of the Privy Council, had refused to waive Cabinet confidence to allow government witnesses to provide full information to the RCMP..Sources in the RCMP told the paper they were putting the examination on hold through the fall 2019 federal election campaign period. The next day former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould stated publicly that she had been interviewed by the RCMP about the actions of the Prime Minister and others..“The RCMP should have confirmed long ago that it was investigating the situation given the evidence, and that more than four years have passed since the situation was made public, and almost four years since the Ethics Commissioner’s ruling finding that Prime Minister Trudeau violated the federal ethics law pressuring the Attorney General,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch..“Given four years have passed, it is difficult to believe that the investigation has not been completed, and it raises many questions for the RCMP to answer.”.Democracy Watch sent a letter to the RCMP in February 2021 setting out the grounds for prosecuting for obstruction of justice, and calling on the RCMP and Crown prosecutors to issue a full, public explanation about the state of the examination. Although this letter is included in the 96-page record disclosed by the RCMP, they did not respond in any way before May 2023..Conacher wonders why the information request and investigation itself have taken so long..“Are the RCMP and prosecutors waiting for a third federal election to pass, or doing what often happens in Canada when powerful politicians and government officials are involved in alleged illegal activities — delaying with the hope that they can eventually bury the results of the investigation?” asked Conacher.
