She Said, He Said, She Said, He Said, She’s Got Tape

A basic rule in the age of the smart phone is to assume everything you say, unless you take very careful precautions, is recorded. There really is an app for that. Dozens actually.

Jody Wilson-Raybould is many things but she is not an idiot and she will have recognized that the PMO was willing to spin and possibly lie to get its way. Whether on SNC-Lavalin or SCC appointments or any other file it took an interest in. I have to bet she had a smart phone.

The transcripts will be interesting however the raw recordings where they exist will be much more interesting simply because “tone” is important in the sorts of conversations Ms. Wilson-Raybould recorded. One snippet of Justin yelling at her and he’s done.

Terrorism

A horrific shooting has occurred at two mosques in New Zealand. It looks like 40 people were killed and at least twenty more badly injured.

Much as it would be comforting to think that it was done by someone “mentally ill” it seems to have been a carefully planned, viciously executed attack by a single, or perhaps group of, nasty white extremist(s). Terrorism plain and simple, no excuses, no BS about “root causes”.

And, for God’s sake no candles, flowers and teddy bears. Murder is murder, terror is terror and there is no reason at all to minimize it or pretend that one more chorus of “Imagine” will heal the innocent worshipers who were killed, their families or their community.

It is very early in this story but it is absolutely essential that the terrorist(s) be interrogated and whatever support they may have had brought to account.

Terror is terror. Its perpetrators are evil regardless of their religion, ethnicity or politics.

The Real Scandal

It seems pretty clear that Trudeau and company’s response to the SNC-Lavalin issue is to muddy the waters, deny responsibility and move on. Given the supine nature of Canada’s media and the Liberal’s majority in Parliament, this might just work. Especially if the focus remains on whether or not there was “inappropriate pressure” exerted on Jody Wilson-Raybould when she took her decision not to intervene.

However, there is a more basic problem here as outlined in Andrew MacDougall’s excellent article in Mcleans.

“By late that same summer, the federal government launched a public consultation on its integrity regime, including the possibility of including deferred prosecution agreements into Canadian law. The change wanted by SNC now had its chance to find broader support. And a few months later—and featuring a submission from SNC—the consultation concluded.

And then, as if by magic, a proposal for deferred prosecution agreements was buried into page 202 of the 2018 federal budget.” Michael Wernick’s SNC-Lavalin problem Mcleans

Read the whole thing because it is a very clear look at how this scandal tracks back to the PMO, PCO and Finance with Jody Wilson-Raybould principled decision essentially being roadkill in the drive to extricate SNC from its own folly.

And there, of course, is the real scandal. No one is disputing that SNC broke all sorts of laws in pursuit of its business interests. What is in issue is what the consequences of that lawlessness should be. The Deferred Prosecution Agreement language is an attempt by a private company to create its own get of jail free card. That the Trudeau government would even entertain, much less pass, such legislation, makes its systemic corruption obvious.

Long before the Liberal establishment – from the Prime Minister on down – behaved badly toward Wilson-Raybould it had already betrayed the Canadian electorate by enshrining a sweetheart deal in the Criminal Code.