SNC-Lavalin Drama continues

Earlier this afternoon, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to follow through on a threat to sue him over his assertion that the Prime Minister politically interfered with the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.

Scheer says the libel suit is aimed at silencing the Conservatives, who have been demanding a thorough, independent investigation of the SNC affair. The company is accused of bribing officials in Libya to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. This could make it one of the most serious cases of alleged corporate corruption in the country’s history. Scheer claims the lawsuit is the same kind of tactic Trudeau has used to silence former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould. While she has called the pressure improper, Wilson-Raybould has said she doesn’t believe anything illegal occurred.

Last week, Trudeau expelled both Wilson-Raybould and fellow former Cabinet Minister Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus over the matter.

At issue in the threatened libel suit is this statement Scheer issued on March 29th. He said documentation provided by Wilson-Raybould is concrete evidence that proves Justin Trudeau led a campaign to politically interfere with SNC-Lavalin’s criminal prosecution.

Scheer’s lawyer wrote back today saying that Scheer is simply performing his constitutional duty to hold the government to account. According to Scheer’s lawyer, if Trudeau does not proceed with the threatened lawsuit, Scheer will conclude that Trudeau has properly acknowledged that his statements were appropriate and grounded in evidence.

Political Analyst Keith Leslie joined Nicole to discuss the latest revelation in the controversy.