Laureen Snider, Queen's University, Ontario; Jennifer Quaid, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Jon Frauley, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa, and Steven Bittle, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
If Canada wants to fix its reputation for being weak on corruption, it needs to confront the harms associated with globalization and bring multinational corporations under democratic control.
The SNC-Lavalin headquarters is seen in in February 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Jennifer Quaid, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
A jury is about to decide the fate of a senior SNC-Lavalin executive accused of corruption and fraud. Meanwhile, Canada’s remediation agreement process is still sorely lacking.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa shortly after the 2019 federal election. In a minority situation, Trudeau will now have to listen and adhere to different perspectives.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Justin Trudeau will have to change his style of governing in the new minority government. Working in a co-operative government with other political parties could diminish executive dominance.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer arrives for an announcement in Toronto on Oct. 1, 2019. Scheer has pledged to combat cabinet secrecy.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Yan Campagnolo, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Politicians often make grand promises of more open government during an election campaign. But when it comes to cabinet secrecy, such promises should be implemented in a thoughtful manner.
Justin Trudeau used the English-language leaders’ debate to defend his actions in the SNC-Lavalin affair after being accused by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer of interfering in the company’s court case.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
There are a lot of reasons to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin file. But on the matter of saving jobs, he got it right.
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion is seen in this December 2011 photo taken on Parliament Hill.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A phone conversation at the heart of the SNC-Lavalin affair contained so much miscommunication that it does not constitute persuasive evidence about alleged threats to Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Politicians should stop trying to bribe us with our own money and instead propose fundamental structural changes to how governments operate and budget themselves.
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Rather than just bribing us with our own money, politicians on the campaign trail should propose structural changes to the way government works and budgets itself.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is embraced by Jody Wilson-Raybould after delivering a speech on the recognition and implementation of Indigenous rights in in the House of Commons on Feb. 14, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A firm PMO policy on respecting the political independence of the attorney general might have served Justin Trudeau better when Jody Wilson-Raybould first cautioned him against interfering in the SNC-Lavalin case.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks to the audience during his special address on corporate responsibility and the role of women in a changing world during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Markus Schreiber
On the heels of the SNC-Lavalin controversy, the Liberals have once again yielded to industry pressure and weakened their commitment to corporate accountability for Canadian companies abroad.
Former SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime leaves a courtroom in Montreal in February 2019. Duhaime pleaded guilty in a bribe scandal around the construction of a $1.3-billion Montreal hospital.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The SNC-Lavalin controversy has resulted in some misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the legal mechanism at its heart: Deferred prosecution agreements.
Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould are seen during a news conference in Ottawa in June 2016.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
While the Wilson-Raybould/Philpott resignations are historic by the numbers, they may also prove historic in creating a new faith in federal cabinet, a previously elite and closed decision-making body.
The Padma Bridge Project in Bangladesh is seen in this February 2018 photograph. SNC-Lavalin was accused of bribing officials in the construction of the bridge, though charges were later dropped.
Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon
Promoting Canadian jobs is part of any government’s political mandate, but so too is the responsibility of ensuring that Canadian businesses are not supporting or condoning corruption abroad.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference in Ottawa to respond to allegations his office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand
The prospect of political interference is at the heart of the SNC-Lavalin controversy. But it raises more issues related to identifying and preventing inappropriate interference.
It could be easy to scoff at Canadian laws that might have allowed SNC-Lavalin to avoid prosecution for bribery and fraud. But they’re working exactly as they should.
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In 1921 and now in 2019, the respective resignations of Mary Ellen Smith from B.C. cabinet and Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from federal cabinet have exposed the limits of Canadian liberalism.