https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/gunter-michael-wernicks-the-last-person-who-should-be-monitoring-election-fairness://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/marin-time-for-michael-wernick-to-walk-aw
GUNTER: Michael Wernick's the last person who should be monitoring election fairness
Lorne Gunter
Published: March 1, 2019
I am against the federal government's Critical Election Incident Public Protocol (CEIPP) in principle. But given the up-to-his-eyeballs involvement of Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick in the prime minister's efforts to pressure former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould into ending the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, I now have very practical objections to the CEIPP, too.
In early February, Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould announced that five senior civil servants will monitor the Internet for any sign of foreign meddling during this fall's federal election.
Gould insisted this was not about "refereeing the election." Rather, the CEIPP was about "alerting Canadians of an incident that jeopardizes their rights to a free and fair election."
Okay, some giant hack of voting results that changed the outcome in several ridings might qualify, but Gould instead said the Liberals' main concern was stopping "fake news" and "orchestrated disinformation campaigns."
That's a whole different kettle of fish. That sounds like an attempt to monitor the issues voters can and cannot see during an election.
That's not a conspiratorial fear on my part. Canadian law already makes it very difficult for any group other than registered political parties to advertise their views during a campaign. Since the internet offers these "third parties" a powerful new way to get around the politicians' advertising monopoly, is it that hard to believe the government would try to regulate Internet and social media in the name of "fairness" and use "fake news" as their excuse?
The key to the CEIPP's objectivity, then, is who sits on it. And that is where my practical concern comes in.
I was already worried about the objectivity of Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick before Wilson-Raybould's testimony this week at the Commons Justice committee.
In his own testimony last week, Wernick exclaimed that he was "deeply concerned about my country now, its politics, and where it's headed."
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And if he cannot distinguish between frustrated people letting off steam by using exaggeration and real conspirators plotting to commit crimes, then Wernick has no business being named as one of the five impartial monitors of our upcoming federal campaign.
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Wernick is supposed to be entirely non-partisan. Entirely. Given his entanglement in the SNC affair, he probably shouldn't keep his main job, but he definitely can't keep his post as an impartial monitor of this fall's campaign.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-trudeaus-bad-week-just-got-worse
LILLEY: Trudeau's bad week just got worse
Brian Lilley
Published: March 1, 2019
Canadians are losing faith in his government, China is calling out Canada for not following the rule of law and the Mounties are reviewing a request to investigate wrongdoing in the prime minister's office.
The week did not end well for Justin Trudeau.
A poll released late Friday by Public Square Research shows that over the last two weeks Canadians have begun shifting their views on the prime minister and his government over the handling of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
The polling firm conducted two different online surveys, one on Feb. 13-14 and one on Feb. 28-March 1.
In the first survey, 73% said Jody Wilson-Raybould was more credible compared to 27% who felt Justin Trudeau was. Two weeks later, 79% said Wilson-Raybould was more credible compared to 21% for Trudeau.
Meanwhile, 73% said they agreed with the statement that "the government should not involve itself if a company gets in trouble with the law in Canada."
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Can there be any question that the government, from the PM to his top officials, were interfering politically in a criminal trial?
In this case, they were trying to help a favoured company avoid criminal prosecution, there are also allegations that top officials have been involved in helping to make sure that criminal trial against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman goes ahead.
None of this is good for the government.
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https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/exclusive-jody-wilson-raybould-overwhelmed-grateful-and-seeking-re-election
Exclusive: Jody Wilson-Raybould 'overwhelmed, grateful' - and seeking re-election
Jody Wilson-Raybould says she has heard from "thousands" of Canadians since her bombshell testimony in Ottawa. And she's ready to run for re-election in the fall.
Mike Smyth Updated: March 2, 2019
Jody Wilson-Raybould says she is "overwhelmed and grateful" about an outpouring of public support since her scorching testimony in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
And despite a nasty internal backlash after her explosive appearance before the federal justice committee, she has no intention of quitting the Liberal caucus in Ottawa.
"It really has been quite remarkable," Wilson-Raybould said Saturday, in her first public remarks since her bombshell testimony.
"I have heard from thousands of people - neighbours, friends, constituents, as well as people from all across Canada."
The former attorney general said she plans to run for re-election in the fall under the Liberal banner in Vancouver Granville.
"I feel overwhelmed and grateful. In my mind, all I was doing was my job."
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"Like Canadians everywhere, I just try to do my job the best I can," she said, adding she's been recognized everywhere she goes while messages of support pour in.
"People coming up to me in airports, social media, emails, deliveries to my offices - I'm grateful for all of the support and kind thoughts."
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Despite the backlash, Wilson-Raybould said she has no intention of leaving the Liberals.
"I was elected as the Liberal member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville and I will continue to serve as such," she said.
Trudeau said last week he had not decided whether Wilson-Raybould will be allowed to remain in the government caucus or to run again for the Liberals.
"I haven't yet had the opportunity to review her entire testimony," Trudeau said. "I will do that before making any further decisions."
But Wilson-Raybould said she's already secured the Liberal nomination for the October election.
"I was confirmed as the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for Vancouver Granville last year," she said.
Despite being at the centre of a raging political storm, Wilson-Raybould said she is feeling upbeat and confident.
"I am doing fine," she said. "The past few weeks have been eventful ones for our country, our system of government, and for myself and family."
https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/jody-wilson-raybould-justin-trudeau-liberals/
How a core member of Team Trudeau became the PM's greatest threat
Jody Wilson-Raybould was once one of Justin Trudeau's star political prospects. Now, a thorn in his side.
by John Geddes Mar 3, 2019
Jody Wilson-Raybould has a way of making an impression. Oddly enough, for a politician, she often makes it in private. There was the day in 2011, back when Wilson-Raybould was heading the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, that she ran into former prime minister Paul Martin. He later said she treated him to a "brilliant exposition" on First Nations issues, which led to Martin talking her up in his Liberal circles. By 2013, newly minted Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had heard enough to fly to Whitehorse to meet her. Their one-on-one so impressed Trudeau that only a few months later he was showcasing her to Liberals as a star political prospect at a Montreal party convention.
After the Liberals won the 2015 election, Trudeau named Wilson-Raybould his justice minister-among the plum cabinet posts. Yet she would rarely be the centre of attention. She pushed through bills on cannabis legalization, assisted suicide and criminal law reform. She pleaded behind the scenes for a sweeping overhaul of Ottawa's relationship with Indigenous people. Still, her reticent manner didn't fully draw the spotlight-not until, that is, she appeared before the House justice committee on Feb. 27 to deliver testimony on the SNC-Lavalin affair. Suddenly, her restraint was riveting. Her spare rhetoric made every damning word sting.
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Liberal MPs looked appropriately stricken or studiously nonchalant. In Wilson-Raybould, they face a figure unlike anyone who has occupied centre stage before through a prolonged Canadian political scandal. She posed the gravest threat to the Liberal party in the second Trudeau era-yet her fellow Liberals were taking pains not to cut her adrift. She remained in their caucus-even though Tories and New Democrats praised her as truthful and, of course, fastened on her as their most valuable, visible asset in an election year. She had quit Trudeau's cabinet to serve as a mere backbench Vancouver MP-but now they watched her stature soar.
Several layered factors make Wilson-Raybould unique. In a shady sequence of events involving a tainted company lobbying for a big favour from the government, she seems to have stood up to the powers that be. She did so as one of the top-ranking women in a cabinet famously engineered around gender equity. And she did it having risen higher in the federal government than any Indigenous politician before her. At the core of her persona are her Vancouver Island roots in the villages of her father's Kwakwaka'wakw people. "I come from a long line of matriarchs and I am a truth-teller in accordance with the laws and traditions of our Big House," she told the committee.
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How would Trudeau fight that? There's no political opposition research playbook for counterpunching against Wilson-Raybould's singular challenge. The Prime Minister stuck to the usually reliable jobs, jobs, jobs tack-that he was only worrying about the fate of SNC-Lavalin employees, almost 9,000 of them across Canada. The problem was, Wilson-Raybould freely allowed that pointing out to her the potential job losses if the company suffered was fine. What wasn't legitimate was trying to inject raw politics into decision-making surrounding a criminal prosecution.
For instance, Wilson-Raybould recounted how, at a meeting she had last Sept. 17 with the Prime Minister, the possibility of SNC-Lavalin pulling its headquarters out of Montreal was raised. Trudeau blurted out that he was an "MP in Quebec, the member for Papineau," referring to his Montreal riding. Meetings and calls to Wilson-Raybould and her staff continued through the fall.
Finally, on Dec. 19, Wernick, Trudeau's deputy minister and the most powerful federal bureaucrat, called her at home. Wilson-Raybould said he told her Trudeau was determined to get SNC-Lavalin its deal. "He said, 'I think he is going to find a way to get it done one way or another,'?" she recalled, adding later, "In my mind, those were veiled threats, and I took them as such."
Events that followed suggest she wasn't wrong to feel threatened. On Jan. 14, in what was expected to be a minor cabinet shuffle, Trudeau demoted Wilson-Raybould to Veterans Affairs.
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Regular communication? Our colleague? When war breaks out on Parliament Hill, collegiality is usually the first casualty. Clearly, Wilson-Raybould's political relationships are uncommonly durable. Her singular set of political traits make her hard to cast as a plausible villain. But there's another factor. Liberals are reluctant to bid adieu to something she, as much as anyone, embodies.
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By contrast, among Liberals who never cracked Trudeau's inner circle, a perhaps inevitable they-had-it-coming critique quickly began circulating. Even Butts's not-for-attribution critics, however, don't deny his talent. "I have the greatest respect for his intellect, his strategic instincts when it comes to politics and even policy," said one veteran Liberal strategist who asked not to be named. "But the way he centralized things around himself is exactly why this Jody Wilson-Raybould thing has happened."
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I missed this one earlier, and was about to skip it entirely as is a few days old in a topic that has evolved so quickly, but, upon beginning to read it, decided to include it. I disagree that Trudeau has "changed", as opposed to "been exposed" and further "exposed himself", albeit only to those who were previously blind:
https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/justin-trudeau-my-how-youve-changed/
Justin Trudeau, my how you've changed
Andrew MacDougall: Justin Trudeau looks like the un-smart, un-serious man that so many of his political opponents have always insisted he is.
by Andrew MacDougall Feb 28, 2019
Imagine you're Justin Trudeau.
The SNC-Lavalin scandal has been battering your government for weeks. Your story keeps shifting. The usually docile media aren't letting it rest. Even a thousand coordinated tweets about the positive impact of the Canada Child Benefit can't change the channel.
On the contrary, l'affair SNC-now christened LavScam-is picking up steam.
You've been forced to accept the resignation of your good friend and top advisor, Gerry Butts, who showed himself the door despite doing absolutely nothing wrong on SNC. Your boy Buttsy jumped on the SNC grenade to spare others the damage.
Only Butts missed the grenade. Completely.
Even worse, Jody Wilson-Raybould-i.e. the grenade-launcher-is now before the Justice Committee. She's (relatively) free to speak and she is letting loose. And now the shrapnel is everywhere, and everyone is bleeding.
You're bleeding. Your chief of staff is bleeding. Your Quebec advisor is bleeding. Your policy guy is bleeding. Your big-spending, do-nothing finance minister is bleeding. Your finance minister's chief of staff is bleeding. And the "non-partisan" clerk of the Privy Council-i.e. your own personal pick for the post? Well, Michael Wernick is soiled. Comprehensively soiled. And bleeding.
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You're watching this all go down, and it is devastating. Your government is in peril. You're in peril. You're staring a return to your career of part-time drama teaching right in the face.
And so you decide it's time to fight back. Because the cast of fifth-rate clowns you sent to fill the Liberal seats at the justice committee certainly didn't do any fighting back. They not only missed the grenades, they picked them up, played with them, and then didn't even realize when they went off in their faces.
But that's all right. You're Justin Trudeau. Mr. Sunny Ways. Mr. Hope and Hard Work. You got this. So you wheel yourself out to 'push back' against Wilson-Raybould's allegations.
Only you don't push back.
You don't counter Wilson-Raybould's facts and recollections with any of your own. You don't dispute what was said, even about your alleged direct personal involvement, other than to say you disagree with Wilson-Raybould's "characterization" of events.
And it stinks.
It stinks as you moan about a difficult couple of weeks because of "internal disagreements." It stinks as you reference your success in making it easier to die, and your success in making it easier to get high. It stinks as you talk about your job being to stand up for jobs and pensions, to stand up for Canadians, and for Canadian workers, and all in an overly dramatic tone that suggests that no other prime minister has ever had that in their job description. It stinks as you speak about anything other than what Canadians need to hear from you.
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https://globalnews.ca/news/5013229/david-lametti-snc-lavalin-affair-jody-wilson-raybould/
'No decision is ever final': Attorney General David Lametti as SNC-Lavalin affair continues
By Amanda Connolly
Attorney General David Lametti says decisions made by those in his role can always be changed.
In an interview with the West Block's Mercedes Stephenson, Lametti also suggested the description by his predecessor, Jody Wilson-Raybould, of attempted political interference to pressure her into helping SNC-Lavalin escape a criminal trial is not entirely accurate.
"Interference is perhaps the wrong word in that it implies something illegal is going on," he said.
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https://globalnews.ca/news/5016873/candice-bergen-danirl-blaikie-snc-lavalin/
March 3, 2019 11:15 am
New attorney general 'under the thumb' of Trudeau, says Tory Candice Bergen on SNC-Lavalin
By Jessica Vomiero
Presenting a rare, united front, Tory MP Candace Bergen and NDP MP Daniel Blaikie believe the current attorney general should provide more clarity on the SNC-Lavalin affair currently plaguing Ottawa, the members told Mercedes Stephenson on The West Block this weekend.
After watching an interview between recently appointed Attorney General David Lametti and Stephenson, Bergen and Blaikie agreed that Lametti has been evasive in his communications about the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
"So there are a number of concerns but overall, to me what it looked like is we have a current attorney general who is completely under the thumb of the prime minister," said Bergen.
"What a comparison between the former attorney general, who is clear, concise, knows the law, is very direct. We heard that in her testimony and David Lametti, who was vague, evasive, didn't want to give an opinion and I would say he's doing exactly what the prime minister wants," Bergen continued.
Blaikie echoed her sentiment.
"What we need right now from the attorney general is clarity. It's what we need from the prime minister, too. And that interview was anything but clear in terms in terms of his answers," he said.
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op:
