tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/jody-wilson-raybould-57105/articlesJody Wilson-Raybould – The Conversation2020-09-21T17:17:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1459122020-09-21T17:17:03Z2020-09-21T17:17:03ZWill Chrystia Freeland lead a feminist post-coronavirus recovery?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358842/original/file-20200918-20-1sismy2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C956%2C5813%2C2600&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A sign of things to come? Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, centre, is seen with Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand, right, and Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Small Business and Export Promotion, left, and Health Minister Patty Hajdu on the video screen.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With Chrystia Freeland now holding the reins of the ministry of finance and Canada’s post-pandemic recovery plan, it’s time to ask whether the first woman — and feminist — to lead the portfolio will push for significant advances for gender equality. </p>
<p>Freeland was appointed finance minister in August 2020 after Bill Morneau’s <a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2020/08/17/bill-morneau-resigns-as-finance-minister/">swift departure</a>, marking the first time in Canadian history that a woman has landed the job. The daughter of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2019/06/remarks-by-the-honourable-chrystia-freeland-minister-of-foreign-affairs-at-the-association-of-women-in-international-trade-wiit-2019-annual-awards-.html">a feminist activist</a> from northern Alberta, Freeland is also an <a href="https://twitter.com/cafreeland/status/1088570242677334019?lang=en">avowed feminist</a> herself — and so is her boss, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. </p>
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<p>In her past role as foreign affairs and international trade minister, Freeland supported feminist policies like <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng#1">Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy</a>. She has now envisioned a “<a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/freeland-trudeau-push-for-green-recovery-as-finance-portfolio-changes-hands-1.1482039">green and equitable</a>” recovery to a crisis that has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/women-employment-covid-economy-1.5685463">disproportionately affected women</a>, signalling that she might push for advances to gender equality. </p>
<p>But there are reasons to be skeptical. </p>
<h2>Trudeau’s feminism questioned</h2>
<p>Freeland will be working closely with Trudeau, whose own feminist credentials are increasingly under scrutiny. During his first campaign as Liberal leader, Trudeau touted his feminism proudly — remember “Because it’s 2015”? — only to bury the topic during his bid for re-election last year.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trudeau explains his gender-balanced cabinet in 2015. (The Canadian Press)</span></figcaption>
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<p>That may have been due to <a href="https://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/headline-politics/episodes/65964247/">the departures</a> of star cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, which sparked <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-feminist-wilson-raybould-philpott-1.5082634">a conversation</a> about Trudeau’s feminism. </p>
<p>Several times, it has been noted that the prime minister’s use of progressive language <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/02/09/Peoplekind-Painful-And-Goofy-Example-Of-Trudeau-Hollowness/">does not reflect his government’s actions</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trudeaus-response-to-the-snc-lavalin-affair-shows-structural-misogyny-in-action-122012">Trudeau's response to the SNC-Lavalin affair shows structural misogyny in action</a>
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<p>We recently published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2020.1781315">a study</a> based on an analysis of three years of official speeches by the prime minister and found that Trudeau rarely spoke from a feminist standpoint: gender equality and mentions of women’s rights were largely contained and limited by the discourse of economic prosperity. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that Trudeau’s understanding of feminism appears to align with “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-neoliberalism-colonised-feminism-and-what-you-can-do-about-it-94856">neoliberal feminism</a>,” a form of feminism that focuses primarily on women’s economic empowerment as a means to achieve gender equality. </p>
<p>Neoliberalism is mostly marked by trade liberalization, deregulation and privatization of government services. It emphasizes economic prosperity as the ultimate measure of success, treating individuals as taxpayers or service users, rather than citizens.</p>
<p>Our paper highlights at least three ways in which neoliberal feminism is problematic. These may be relevant in questioning Freeland’s own feminist stance. </p>
<h2>Structural barriers ignored</h2>
<p>First, neoliberal feminism is based on the notion that individual empowerment is the highest form of citizenship. And so neoliberal feminists propose that as long as women have the same access to economic empowerment as men, they should be able to achieve full equality. </p>
<p>This view allows society to ignore the need to address deep structural barriers to substantive equality such as discrimination on the basis of race, ability, nationality and so on. </p>
<p>Second, the idea that women are best emancipated through economic empowerment tends to speak only to a certain group of them: The famous book <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/12/6/18128838/michelle-obama-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg"><em>Lean In</em></a>, by Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, might have been well-received by privileged women and those climbing corporate ladders across the globe, but women in lower socio-economic ranks simply don’t have access to this type of individualist pursuit of success. </p>
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<img alt="Sheryl Sandberg speaks into a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358852/original/file-20200918-24-1ram10x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is seen in Washington in September 2018 testifying on Capitol Hill about foreign influence in the 2016 presidential election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)</span></span>
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<p>What’s more, no amount of leaning in would help most women of colour, transgendered persons, undocumented migrants or so many others overcome the very real barriers that they face in the workplace. </p>
<p>Finally, the type of casual approach that accompanies neoliberal feminism tends to gender-neutralize issues that are very much about gender, such as child care. </p>
<p>Overall, gender-neutralization works in much the same way as colour-blindness has worked when addressing questions of race and justice (in other words, <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-race-and-justice-colour-blindness-is-not-good-enough-106250">not well</a>). </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-race-and-justice-colour-blindness-is-not-good-enough-106250">When it comes to race and justice, 'colour-blindness' is not good enough</a>
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<h2>Women become invisible</h2>
<p>Neoliberalism has turned childcare into a question of children’s rights and success while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-483-520171011">ignoring its importance for women</a>.</p>
<p>Another example of gender-neutralization is violence against Indigenous women and girls. To Trudeau’s credit, our study did find that he tends to address this issue head on.</p>
<p><a href="https://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/383">Studies have found</a> that if women-specific issues are not tackled as such, then women become invisible in policy-making.</p>
<p>There is no question that the Trudeau government has made efforts to bring a feminist lens to various files. The prime minister’s commitment to appointing women to important positions has had <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/fake-feminist-trudeaus-track-record-for-appointing-women-looks-real/">a positive effect</a>; major policies have taken feminism into account, particularly in foreign affairs. </p>
<p>But Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, which both Trudeau and Freeland support, uses feminism as a conduit for economic ends rather than considering gender equality an end on its own. </p>
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<img alt="Freeland and Trudeau bump elbows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358853/original/file-20200918-24-1daq1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Freeland elbow bumps Trudeau after being sworn in as finance minister at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Aug. 18, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
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<p>This type of framework is gaining strength. Championed by global organizations like the World Bank, it proposes that women’s empowerment makes “<a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/psd/why-gender-equality-doing-business-makes-good-economic-sense">good business sense</a>” for countries. The problem is that, in this view, women end up as little more than a resource in the toolbox for economic prosperity. Our study confirms this point. </p>
<p>How, and how often, Freeland will apply her view of feminism in her new role remains to be seen. As the finance minister of a G7 nation, Freeland has entered <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1789372995542">a club of political leaders</a> whose entire world view has been shaped by neoliberalism. </p>
<p>But if she wants a truly equitable recovery, Freeland will have to find a way out of this neoliberal straitjacket.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the finance minister of a G7 nation, Chrystia Freeland has entered a club of political leaders whose entire world view is shaped by neoliberalism. Will she find a way to promote real feminism?Gabriela Perdomo, PhD Candidate, Department of Communication, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaPascale Dangoisse, PhD candidate, Department of Communication, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1281042019-12-12T19:05:34Z2019-12-12T19:05:34ZWhat’s ahead for remediation agreements in the SNC-Lavalin aftermath<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306473/original/file-20191211-95130-3qxzz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4532%2C2731&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The SNC-Lavalin headquarters is seen in in February 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>About a year ago, <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-snc-lavalin-controversy-truly-a-scandal-112208">the SNC-Lavalin controversy</a> introduced Canadians to a new way of settling criminal charges — remediation agreements. </p>
<p>Added to Canadian law <a href="https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-74/royal-assent">via a budget bill</a> in June 2018, the system was put to the test almost immediately when SNC-Lavalin sought a deal to settle fraud and corruption charges pending against it since early 2015. Prosecutors decided, however, that it wasn’t in the public interest to offer the Québec company a deal.</p>
<p>Government officials, convinced a deal was essential to avoiding big job losses, urged Jody Wilson-Raybould, then the attorney general, to use her power to direct prosecutors to negotiate with SNC. Her replacement, David Lametti, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6286290/ag-can-order-remediation-agreements-in-very-rare-circumstances-says-lametti/">said recently that the attorney general can make that call</a> in rare circumstances.</p>
<p>But once those efforts became public, the settlement tool at the centre of the political storm became inextricably linked to the SNC-Lavalin affair. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306468/original/file-20191211-95130-6bx8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Former SNC-Lavalin vice-president Sami Bebawi leaves a courtroom in February 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
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<p>It’s 10 months later and a jury is about to decide the fate of Sami Bebawi, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-bebawis-defence-argues-that-millions-in-accounts-were-bonuses/">a senior SNC-Lavalin executive accused of corruption and fraud</a>. SNC-Lavalin is also scheduled <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/snc-lavalin-shares-up-1.5331794">to be back in court on Dec. 18</a>, and the start of its criminal trial is imminent. </p>
<p>As for the remediation agreement regime, the bright promise of <a href="http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/735734/Corporate+Crime/Coming+In+From+The+Cold+Deferred+Prosecution+Remediation+Agreements+In+Canada">what many saw as a welcome addition to the corporate accountability tool kit</a> has dimmed considerably. The taint of SNC seems to have made prosecutors and organizations wary of settling cases via remediation agreements.</p>
<p>That’s a terrible shame. As the Department of Justice states in its <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2018/03/remediation-agreements-to-address-corporate-crime.html">backgrounder</a>, remediation agreements are a much-needed alternative to full prosecution in appropriate cases, for holding organizations accountable and encouraging corporations to disclose wrongdoing with investigators.</p>
<p>While remediation agreements may have been unfairly tarred by the SNC-Lavalin case, the controversy has also shown that the new system was put together too quickly and without enough consideration of how it would work in practice.</p>
<p>It’s time to set the remediation agreement system back on course. Here are three things that can be done relatively quickly:</p>
<h2>1. Enact the regulations</h2>
<p>At the moment, the remediation agreement system is comprised only of the legislative provisions in a new <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-183.html#h-130598">section of the Criminal Code</a>. Unlike other settlement mechanisms in Canada, including the <a href="https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/h_02000.html">Immunity and Leniency Program for competition offences</a>, or the <a href="https://www.sfo.gov.uk/publications/guidance-policy-and-protocols/deferred-prosecution-agreements/">United Kingdom’s deferred prosecution agreement regime</a> that inspired Canada’s, no accompanying guidelines or policies were adopted to help prosecutors and accused companies navigate the basic process outlined in the law.</p>
<p>The legislation specifically calls for <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-185.html#docCont">regulations to be adopted</a> on two items: the actual form of the remediation agreement and the qualifications needed to be an independent monitor who oversees the implementation of the agreement. </p>
<p>These regulations have yet to be drafted and enacted.</p>
<p>The lack of specifics in these two areas erodes confidence that the system can keep its two key promises: transparency and effective implementation of corrective measures.</p>
<p>A remediation agreement is not just a deal between the Crown and an organization, it is also a public record that sets out the facts underlying the criminal charges. It also includes an admission of responsibility, past and future co-operation with authorities, the amount to be paid in penalties, disgorgement of profits and restitution to victims and any corrective measures that the organization has promised to implement. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/snc-lavalin-canadas-anti-foreign-bribery-laws-did-their-job-112758">SNC-Lavalin: Canada’s anti-foreign bribery laws did their job</a>
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<p>Developing a standard template will ensure that agreements are drafted in a consistent style that makes it easy to understand why and how they advance the public interest. </p>
<p>Similarly, until there are standards for who qualifies as an independent monitor, it will be up to the courts approving remediation agreements to decide on a case-by-case basis who can be trusted to ensure organizations are implementing corrective measures properly. </p>
<p>That’s not only inefficient, it invites a mish-mash of standards.</p>
<h2>2. Provide detailed guidance</h2>
<p>There are also several aspects of the remediation agreement process that aren’t outlined in the legislation and require more precise guidance. </p>
<p>That includes the evaluation of the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-183.html#docCont">public interest criteria</a> that must be weighed before inviting an organization to negotiate a remediation agreement. Since deciding what is in the public interest falls to prosecutors as they decide how to proceed, this kind of information should be included in what’s known as the <a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/fpsd-sfpg/fps-sfp/tpd/index.html">Federal Prosecution Deskbook</a> and its provincial equivalents.</p>
<p>While there is a part of the deskbook devoted to prosecutions for <a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/fpsd-sfpg/fps-sfp/tpd/p5/ch08.html">foreign corruption offences</a>, it’s focused on making sure these sometimes diplomatically sensitive matters are co-ordinated at a national level as well as ensuring that prosecutors know about unique aspects of the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/corruption/oecdantibriberyconvention.htm">OECD Anti-Bribery Convention</a> integrated into Canadian law. </p>
<p>This part makes no reference to remediation agreements. At the moment, the only reference is a <a href="https://ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/tra/tr/22.html">short briefing note</a> in the <a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/tra/tr/index.html">Public Prosecution Service of Canada’s Transition Book</a>. That note was prepared when Lametti was appointed in January 2019, and some of it’s redacted.</p>
<p>There’s also a pressing need to describe how organizations should proceed when disclosing a possible offence, and especially what kind of information they are expected to provide prior to prosecutors approaching them about a possible remediation agreement.</p>
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<span class="caption">Jody Wilson-Raybould resisted efforts to get her to reconsider a remediation agreement for SNC-Lavalin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
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<p>This void created problems in the SNC-Lavalin case. Since prosecutors don’t need to provide reasons for their decisions, it was impossible to know on what basis they decided a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin was not in the public interest. </p>
<p>Without any indication of what kind of information prosecutors would normally expect to receive from companies seeking to negotiate deals, SNC-Lavalin was able to cast doubt on their decision by saying <a href="https://www.snclavalin.com/en/media/press-releases/2018/10-10-2018">it didn’t understand</a> why prosecutors refused to negotiate when the company had provided so much relevant information. </p>
<p>The clear implication was that the decision against negotiating a deal could only be due to an erroneous assessment of the evidence or a failure to consider it at all. Though this argument was clearly rejected by Justice Katherine Kane <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2019/2019fc282/2019fc282.html?resultIndex=2">in her decision striking down SNC’s application for a judicial review</a>, it continues to hang over the SNC-Lavalin decision. It’s not likely to be fully refuted as long as the details remain confidential. </p>
<p>To ensure fairness and transparency, the remediation agreement process for companies should be set out clearly in writing and made widely accessible to the public, ideally through a website.</p>
<h2>3. Create an anti-corruption enforcement body</h2>
<p>The need for such transparency also suggests that it’s a good idea for Canada to create a specialized enforcement body, akin to the <a href="https://www.sfo.gov.uk/publications/guidance-policy-and-protocols/deferred-prosecution-agreements/">Serious Fraud Office</a> in the U.K. or Canada’s own <a href="https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/home">Competition Bureau</a>. The enforcement body would oversee and co-ordinate anti-corruption policy and enforcement in Canada. </p>
<p>There are several aspects of the remediation agreement system that would benefit from specialized expertise and personnel in one place. In Canada, most significant criminal cases against organizations for elusive economic crimes have been <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3039707">immunity or leniency settlements for competition offences</a>. There’s a need for tools that are tailored specifically to the remediation agreement regime and its mandate to settle corruption and fraud offences.</p>
<p>These include developing robust methods of calculating fines and restitution amounts, outlining methods for locating and compensating victims and building an inventory of promising corrective and compliance measures to be included in remediation agreements whenever appropriate. </p>
<p>The government should also consult with experts and stakeholders to evaluate the existing remediation agreement regime and identify areas for improvement. </p>
<p>Enacting the legislation so quickly has deprived Canadians of a detailed discussion about how it was developed. That’s undermined the overall legitimacy of remediation agreements. It’s time to correct those mistakes.</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128104/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Quaid hold research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Foundation for Legal Research. She is a member of the legal committee of Transparency International Canada. </span></em></p>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.Jennifer Quaid, Associate Professor, Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1259182019-11-07T21:15:53Z2019-11-07T21:15:53ZBrand versus reality: Trudeau’s style of governing must now change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300663/original/file-20191107-10915-1xa3lm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=429%2C0%2C3523%2C2732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Historically, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has often made decisions in the absence of the opinions of citizens and other legislative bodies.</p>
<p>Since elected in 2015, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have tried to re-brand the PMO and extinguish the notion of an <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mark-d-jarvis-lori-turnbull-canadian-prime-ministers-have-too-much-power">executive dominance</a> in Canada’s federal government. </p>
<p>Once elected, the newly formed government published its <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/backgrounders/2015/11/27/open-and-accountable-government">Open and Accountable Government</a> guide for ministers, which focused on enabling many voices, having <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/full-list-of-justin-trudeau-s-cabinet-1.3300699">a modern take on cabinet</a> and becoming a <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/june-2017/justin-trudeau-and-reconciliatory-federalism/">co-operative federation.</a></p>
<p>Though these initiatives appeared to be the foundation of the Trudeau government, his powerful first-term majority government didn’t keep many of these promises — a problem that’s always existed and persists regardless of political optics and re-branding efforts.</p>
<p>As was evident during the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-wilson-raybould-attorney-general-snc-lavalin-1.5014271">SNC-Lavalin affair</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/trans-mountain-pipeline-48735">Trans Mountain pipeline debate</a>, decisions at the executive level are still apparently made in the absence of the opinions of citizens and other legislative bodies. </p>
<p>And though there are continuous efforts to brand the Trudeau government as <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2016/the-promise-and-perils-of-collaborative-federalism/">co-operative</a> and <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2015/12/08/trudeau-cabinet-takes-diversity-inclusiveness-to-an-unparalleled-extent/">inclusive</a>, centralized and executive power is as prevalent as ever at the federal level. </p>
<h2>SNC-Lavalin</h2>
<p>Most Canadians know the trials and tribulations of the SNC-Lavalin controversy; however, why did it come into the public light? The answer exists within <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/march-2019/the-stifling-conformity-of-party-discipline/">party discipline</a> and the ripple effect of Trudeau basing cabinet appointments on merit and gender representation — or, as he stated, “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-trudeau-liberal-government-cabinet-1.3304590">because it’s 2015</a>.” </p>
<p>If party discipline does not exist, it can create contentious situations, exposing the executive dominance at the federal level — a situation that manifested with Jody Wilson-Raybould.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/snc-lavalin-and-the-need-for-fresh-thinking-around-independence-and-interference-112831">SNC-Lavalin & the need for fresh thinking around independence and interference</a>
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<p>If the Trudeau government had appointed a cabinet that practised party discipline, the SNC-Lavalin affair would be unknown to most Canadians. Wilson-Raybould was outside the norm of politics and disrupted the wishes of the PMO by interjecting independent decision-making. </p>
<p>Trudeau wrote in Wilson-Raybould’s mandate letter in 2015, <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters/minister-justice-and-attorney-general-canada-mandate-letter">“Please know that you can count on me to support you every day in your role as Minister.”</a> However, it seems that support was contingent upon the particular wishes of the PMO being respected. </p>
<h2>Trans Mountain pipeline</h2>
<p>Though the SNC-Lavalin affair lays out a case of executive dominance within cabinet and Parliament, there are examples outside of the confines of Parliament Hill. When looking at the Trans Mountain pipeline debate, it’s evident that Trudeau is overstepping outside perspectives for his own objectives. </p>
<p>The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion was contingent upon <a href="https://www.transmountain.com/commitments-tracking">156 conditions</a> that were primarily decided upon by the <a href="https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/pplctnflng/mjrpp/trnsmntnxpnsn/cndtnstl-eng.html">National Energy Board</a>, an independent adjudication body. Even though the approval was contingent upon upholding the proposed conditions, the Trudeau government hastily <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-cabinet-trudeau-pipeline-decisions-1.3872828">approved the beginning of the pipeline expansion’s construction</a>, overlooking the recommendations of the National Energy Board and its public engagement initiatives. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300667/original/file-20191107-10901-1yxc5ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pipes are seen at the pipe yard at the Trans Mountain facility in Kamloops, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/trans-mountain-expansion-halted-by-federal-court-of-appeal/">Federal Court of Appeal ultimately overturned Trudeau’s decision</a>, stating the need for the National Energy Board to re-evaluate. As a response, the government superseded the National Energy Board with the internally managed <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/what-the-neb-did-and-didnt-do-in-its-assessment-of-trans-mountain-and-how-it-can-fix-the-problems">Impact Assessment Agency of Canada</a>, whose president is a former deputy national security adviser to Trudeau. To no surprise, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada reinstated the project and fulfilled the demands of the PMO.</p>
<h2>Hypocrisy from the centre</h2>
<p>The Trans Mountain pipeline debate ignored public engagement criteria. The Trudeau government has used a lack of public engagement to axe other campaign commitments. </p>
<p>Though Trudeau campaigned in 2015 on <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/trudeau-announcing-plan-to-kill-first-past-the-post-by-the-next-election">electoral reform</a>, the promise was broken once in power. The Liberals did appoint a <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2017/broken-trust-on-electoral-reform/">House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform</a>, which unanimously agreed that citizen engagement was imperative to determining a new electoral system for Canada. It dedicated $300,000 for town halls to be conducted by each MP. </p>
<p>The electoral reform committee found that 71 per cent of Canadians who participated in surveys wanted parties to govern together and 80 per cent of town-hall meetings supported proportional representation. </p>
<p>Regardless of the committee recommendations, the Trudeau government decided to scrap electoral reform promises, stating that <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/july-2016/its-our-electoral-system-not-parliaments/">citizens were not engaged</a> enough with the question of electoral reform. Rather than act on the recommendations for co-operative governance, the PMO made decisions in the absence of the opinions of citizens and other legislative bodies. </p>
<h2>Shifting the setting</h2>
<p>When looking at these examples, one might argue that these instances are rare. But actually, executive dominance is common; it just rarely comes into public light. With the lack of checks and balances, the position of prime minister is perhaps the <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2016/why-proportional-representation-is-doomed/">most unchecked head of government among the democracies</a>. </p>
<p>It’s apparent now that claims of co-operative governance have just been mere brand attributes of the Trudeau government. </p>
<p>But Trudeau is going to have transform his brand into reality in the new minority government. Having to truly work in a co-operative government with other political parties might be the only chance to diminish executive dominance and implement policies that reflect the desires of Canadians. </p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Rodgers is affiliated with the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance as a Junior Fellow. </span></em></p>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.Julia Rodgers, PhD Student, Political Science, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1239662019-10-01T22:11:48Z2019-10-01T22:11:48ZCanada’s ethics watchdog may have misinterpreted a key SNC-Lavalin conversation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294234/original/file-20190925-51405-x38nk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2466%2C1459&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion is seen in this December 2011 photo taken on Parliament Hill.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The SNC-Lavalin controversy dogged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the leadup to the Canadian federal election.</p>
<p>In his <a href="http://ciec-ccie.parl.gc.ca/Documents/English/Public%20Reports/Examination%20Reports/Trudeau%20II%20Report.pdf">August report on the SNC-Lavalin case</a>, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion made strong assertions about the meanings intended by Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council, during <a href="https://ourcommons.azureedge.net/data/ConversationJWRandWernick-e.m4a">a 17-minute telephone conversation</a> with Jody Wilson-Raybould that was secretly recorded in December 2018.</p>
<p>Dion’s report provided no analysis to support his assertions that the call between Wernick and Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general and justice minister, was evidence of inappropriate pressure being placed on her to grant SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement. </p>
<p>The conversation must be systematically assessed to provide the fairest possible perspective on the recording. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294235/original/file-20190925-51421-15moeb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Wernick is seen leaving the Justice Committee hearings in March 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
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<p>Wilson-Raybould covertly recorded the conversation and then publicly released it in March 2019. Dion asserted that the conversation was the “most flagrant attempt to influence Ms. Wilson-Raybould” and that “it is evident” that Wernick was attempting to persuade her to overrule a prior decision on SNC-Lavalin by the director of public prosecutions, Kathleen Roussel.</p>
<p>Prior to the public release of the recording, <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/JUST/meeting-138/evidence">Wernick denied to the House of Commons Justice Committee</a> that he had threatened Wilson-Raybould and pressured her to overrule the director’s decision. </p>
<p>Does an examination of the conversation determine whether Dion’s interpretations are “evident” and whether either of these opposing claims is persuasively supported? </p>
<h2>Extensive miscommunication</h2>
<p>As language academics, our analysis has revealed that the conversation included substantial miscommunication. </p>
<p>The characteristics of conversation are explained in Angeliki Tzanne’s book <a href="https://benjamins.com/catalog/pbns.62"><em>Talking at Cross-Purposes: The Dynamics of Miscommunication</em></a> and provide some guidance in analyzing Wernick’s talk with Wilson-Raybould.</p>
<p>The two officials expressed different meanings with the word “tool,” and even with pronouns like “it” and “this.” They also frequently shifted topics. On two occasions, Wernick unsuccessfully attempted to repair misunderstandings by saying “people are talking past each other.” The many pauses, hesitation markers (“um” and “uh”), repetitions and reformulations indicate that this spoken conversation was very different from a planned and edited written text. </p>
<p>The misunderstandings may suggest that Wilson-Raybould anticipated and then interpreted the sentences to mean overruling the director of public prosecutions, but that Wernick did not actually intend those meanings.</p>
<h2>‘Get it done’</h2>
<p>Of particular concern is Wernick’s use of the phrase “get it done” (ellipticals indicate pauses): </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“So the PM … (um) wants to be able to say … (um) that he has tried everything he can … (uh) you know within within a legitimate toolbox to try to head that off … (um) so he he is … quite determined (laughs) quite firm … (uh) but he wants he wants to know why the DPA [deferred prosecution agreement] route which Parliament provided for … isn’t being used … and I think he is gonna find a way to get it done one way or another.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dion appears to have concluded that “it” referred to overruling the director of public prosecutions. However, the context suggests an alternative and potentially more plausible intended meaning.</p>
<p>Four legal tools within the attorney general’s “toolbox” were discussed: a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin, overruling Roussel’s decision, obtaining information about the director’s rationale and seeking external legal advice. </p>
<p>The content and structure of the conversation show that the legal tool Wernick focused on was obtaining information from the director of public prosecutions regarding why a deferred prosecution agreement was not being employed.</p>
<p>This information was explained in a notice written by the director. </p>
<p>In early September 2018, that notice was forwarded from Wilson-Raybould’s office to the Prime Minister’s Office. But a key fact omitted from Dion’s report is that the notice was misplaced and never received. As Wilson-Raybould indicated in the recording, since at least Nov. 22, 2018, she had been aware that the PMO did not have the notice, but had not remedied this situation by resending it.</p>
<h2>Requesting the notice</h2>
<p>In Wernick’s sentence that preceded “get it done,” the main verb was “wants (to know why).” At the beginning of the conversation, Wernick twice stated that one of his goals was to find out why the deferred prosecution agreement was not being proposed. Within the conversation, almost half of his mentions of legal tools were about finding out why the deferred prosecution agreement was not being proposed.</p>
<p>Wernick continued with the conversation until Wilson-Raybould agreed to resend the notice. With respect to this goal, Wernick “got it done” by the end of the conversation. </p>
<p>Our general conclusion is that the discussion between Wernick and Wilson-Raybould contained so much miscommunication that it does not constitute persuasive evidence about alleged threats to the former attorney general. </p>
<p>Because he did not produce a systematic analysis of the full conversation, Dion’s strong assertions are not supported by evidence.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123966/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dean Mellow has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dasha Gluhareva does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Dean Mellow, Associate Professor, Linguistics, Simon Fraser UniversityDasha Gluhareva, PhD Student, Language Acquisition, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1220122019-08-19T19:03:50Z2019-08-19T19:03:50ZTrudeau’s response to the SNC-Lavalin affair shows structural misogyny in action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288528/original/file-20190819-123741-gnzfow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2892%2C1904&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href="https://www.thepostmillennial.com/it-increases-my-feminism-justin-trudeau-says-about-ejecting-wilson-raybould-and-philpott-from-the-liberal-cabinet/">was asked about the impact on his feminism of dealing with “tough women” in his cabinet</a>. In response, Trudeau said: “It increases my feminism. It continues to challenge and make us think differently about it.”</p>
<p>It should continue to challenge him. A feminist analysis of the breakdown in the relationship between Trudeau and Jody Wilson-Raybould after she alleged she faced improper pressure to prevent the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin suggests that he still struggles to work with women in powerful roles who do not share his agenda.</p>
<p>Journalist Aaron Wherry’s new book, <em><a href="https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443458276/promise-and-peril/">Promise and Peril: Justin Trudeau in Power</a></em>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-wherry-raybould-conflict-1.5244151">reveals a difficult relationship</a> between Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould. Trudeau tells Wherry: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I grumbled to myself that it was difficult for me to not have a minister of justice that I was super-sympatico with.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p><em><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/down-girl-9780190604981?cc=ca&lang=en&">Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny</a></em>, the 2017 book by Cornell philosophy professor Kate Manne, gives us a framework for understanding this type of conflict. Men, she argues — especially the most privileged men — operate with the tacit expectation that they can rely on women for moral support. Women are expected to provide collective moral approval and admiration.</p>
<p>Trudeau’s avowed feminism, his <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-trudeau-liberal-government-cabinet-1.3304590">famous gender-balanced cabinet</a> in 2015 and his government’s <a href="https://www.liberal.ca/2018-year-in-review/">women-directed policies</a> only increase this expectation.</p>
<p>When women do not provide the expected support, it is seen by men as a personal betrayal. And, as Manne points out, those women are in the wrong from the perspective of social standards that continue to enforce these expectations.</p>
<p>It’s therefore not surprising that Trudeau would continue to perceive himself as <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-trudeau-rejects-calls-for-apology-on-snc-lavalin-in-wake-of-ethics/">having done nothing wrong</a> in the SNC-Lavalin affair.</p>
<h2>Took it personally</h2>
<p>The use of the word misogyny is not meant to suggest that Trudeau dislikes women, or even fails to view them as equals. From this structural perspective, he sees Wilson-Raybould as part of his team, and because of that sees her, as a woman, as having an obligation to support and advance his interests. This is why when she stood up for the political independence of the attorney general he took the situation so personally.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/snc-lavalin-and-the-need-for-fresh-thinking-around-independence-and-interference-112831">SNC-Lavalin & the need for fresh thinking around independence and interference</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Wherry also reveals in his book that negotiations to keep Wilson-Raybould and former health minister Jane Philpott in caucus ultimately floundered because Trudeau would not admit any wrongdoing on the SNC-Lavalin case. Announcing their expulsion from caucus, the prime minister described the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1470350403979/">ultimate cause as one of lost trust</a>. This is also consistent with a structural analysis of misogyny. “Moral criticisms,” Manne writes, “are likely to seem like transgressions or bald-faced lies.”</p>
<p>In her own <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/jody-wilson-rayboulds-opening-statement-at-justice-committee/">testimony to the House of Commons Justice Committee</a> in February, Wilson-Raybould reported that “the prime minister asked me to help out — to find a solution here for SNC.” </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288531/original/file-20190819-123745-16knhws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wilson-Raybould appears at the House of Commons Justice Committee in February 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was clear from the rest of her testimony that members of the Prime Minister’s Office conceived of Wilson-Raybould’s role as one that supported Trudeau’s agenda. When she continued to refuse to interfere with the prosecution and to force a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin, Mathieu Bouchard, a senior adviser to Trudeau, raised the upcoming election. </p>
<p>The implication was that she should “do the right thing” in order to help the party win re-election and Trudeau another term as prime minister.</p>
<p>The expectation that Wilson-Raybould’s primary obligation is to Trudeau and the party, despite the importance of independence in her role as attorney general, also fits with the patterns Manne identifies in her book. <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/12/5/16705284/metoo-weinstein-misogyny-trump-sexism">Misogyny is a mechanism</a> for keeping women in their place. It is how women who fail to meet the expectation that they “help out” are chastised. </p>
<p>Women who not only do not provide this help, but demand that they’re respected and supported in their projects, are, writes Manne, “perceived as greedy, grasping, and domineering, shrill and abrasive, corrupt and untrustworthy.” </p>
<h2>Social forces</h2>
<p>Trudeau, like all of us, is subject to social forces that operate well below the level of our consciousness. Often these social forces — in this case the forces of patriarchy — are incompatible with our strongly held moral commitments. The prime minister could be genuine in his feminism, but it can be difficult to adhere to feminist commitments against the background of misogynist social institutions. </p>
<p>The sense of personal betrayal that Trudeau felt when he grumbled about the difficulty that his relationship with Wilson-Raybould caused him is a product of these social institutions and the gendered expectations of support that are a part of them.</p>
<p>If anyone should feel let down by these events, it is Wilson-Raybould. The attorney general should be supported by the prime minister in fulfilling her role as Canada’s chief legal adviser. </p>
<p>The SNC-Lavalin scandal is a reminder that in government, policies matter more than the moral commitments of individuals. Trudeau’s feminism did not protect him from the personal failures that lead to the ethics commissioner’s <a href="http://ciec-ccie.parl.gc.ca/Documents/English/Public%20Reports/Examination%20Reports/Trudeau%20II%20Report.pdf">conclusions that he wrongly used his position of authority</a> to pressure Wilson-Raybould. </p>
<p>A firm policy in the PMO on respecting the political independence of the attorney general might have served him better when Wilson-Raybould first cautioned him against interfering in the SNC-Lavalin case.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122012/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Wyatt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Nicole Wyatt, Associate Professor and Department Head, Philosophy, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1130952019-03-17T17:05:12Z2019-03-17T17:05:12ZSNC-Lavalin: Deferred prosecution deals aren’t get-out-of-jail free cards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263887/original/file-20190314-28499-15c61qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government remains in hot water over SNC-Lavalin. Even anti-bribery officials from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5043291/snc-lavalin-affair-justin-trudeau-oecd/">are “concerned” and watching the situation.</a> </p>
<p>But the controversy has resulted in some misinterpretations of the legal mechanism at its heart: Deferred prosecution agreements, known as DPAs. </p>
<p>Jody Wilson-Raybould is a career prosecutor who has devoted her life to justice. It’s reassuring that the former attorney general testified nothing illegal happened on the SNC-Lavalin file, yet she provided details of 10 instances she described as <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5006450/jody-wilson-raybould-testimony-transcript/">“consistent and sustained effort” of “inappropriate pressure” to “politically interfere”</a> with her prosecutorial independence in the matter. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-wilson-raybould-letter-says-snc-lavalin-affair-a-wake-up-call-that/">In recent days</a>, Wilson-Raybould has also said the SNC-Lavalin affair has served as a “wake-up call” that’s inspired her to push to ensure there’s respect for the rule of law and prosecutorial independence.</p>
<p>Prosecutorial independence is an unassailable tenet of Canadian democracy, as is judicial independence. Any attempt to wilfully interfere in either would be grave. </p>
<p>But it’s important to understand how the new DPA regime works.</p>
<h2>Will not open the floodgates</h2>
<p>Some have argued that DPAs are a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-justice-jobs-and-snc-lavalin-how-much-does-the-engineering-giant/">“get-out-of-jail-free card”</a> that could <a href="https://twitter.com/lraitt/status/1103477156749799424">result in opening the “floodgates”</a> to corporate evasions of justice. This is wrong.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263888/original/file-20190314-28479-1b9oup0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SNC-Lavalin president and CEO Neil Bruce at the company’s annual general meeting in Montreal in May 2018. Bruce stressed the need for changes to Canada’s anti-corruption measures in a 2017 letter to the federal government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The raison d'être of Canada’s new DPA law is to fight corporate impunity. The law was passed in 2018, after years of discussion and a months-long public consultation in 2017 in which more than 340 stakeholders participated, including those from SNC-Lavalin.</p>
<p>In 2015, the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/snc-case-shows-downside-of-ottawas-strict-anti-corruption-regime/article23087586/">Globe and Mail — which broke the news of Wilson-Raybould’s allegations — argued that Canada needed a DPA regime</a> to efficiently fight corporate crime and keep in step with other OECD countries. </p>
<p>In Canada, a DPA regime has been supported because of the following downsides of prosecution:</p>
<ol>
<li>Corporate convictions are difficult to achieve.</li>
<li>Corporate prosecutions go on for years, are expensive to taxpayers and have uncertain outcomes.</li>
<li>When corporations are fighting charges or are convicted, too often innocent parties end up disproportionately suffering by losing jobs or pensions or contracts. </li>
<li>Canada can lose out economically if a corporation is prevented from bidding on domestic or international contracts or goes bankrupt. </li>
</ol>
<p>These criteria must be balanced against the nature of the crimes, the impact upon victims and the public interest in fighting corporate crime.</p>
<h2>Avoiding lengthy trials</h2>
<p>Canada’s DPA regime seeks to avoid lengthy trials and skip ahead to an admission of guilt by the corporation. Ideally, the corporation voluntarily discloses wrongdoing. Then a series of steps follow.</p>
<p>First, a prosecutor decides if it’s appropriate to invite the corporation to negotiate a DPA. Second, the attorney general must approve the DPA. Third, Canada is unique in that it requires court approval of the DPA and also allows the court to impose any conditions it deems fit, including amending the terms of the agreement. In making its decision, the court weighs factors including public interest, impact on victims and innocent parties.</p>
<p>The court approval safeguard in Canada — not to mention the prerequisite attorney general approval — is aimed at preventing any concerns corporations are flouting the law.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/snc-lavalin-canadas-anti-foreign-bribery-laws-did-their-job-112758">SNC-Lavalin: Canada’s anti-foreign bribery laws did their job</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If a DPA is approved, the accused corporation admits guilt, pays hefty fines in proportion to the crime (in the tens of millions in some cases), pays the Crown’s costs, forfeits gains from the crimes, makes reparations to victims, including those overseas, and agrees to strict new corporate governance rules to be reviewed by an independent monitor. </p>
<p>If the corporation violates the DPA, prosecution is back on the table — hence the word <em>deferred</em> — and the corporation faces a criminal trial. </p>
<p>A DPA is never available, however, if the prosecutor believes the corporation’s alleged crimes resulted in death, serious bodily harm or terrorism. Furthermore, if the corporation is charged under Section 3 of the Foreign Corrupt Officials Act (FCOA), the prosecutor cannot consider the national economic interest in deciding whether to negotiate a DPA. </p>
<h2>Final say</h2>
<p>The RCMP charged SNC-Lavalin with <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/1838730/rcmp-lays-fraud-corruption-charges-against-snc-lavalin/">fraud under the Criminal Code</a> and with a <a href="https://business.financialpost.com/legal-post/snc-lavalin-charges-reveal-the-teeth-in-canadas-new-anti-bribery-law">Section 3 corruption crime under the FCOA</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263891/original/file-20190314-28499-irtwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jody Wilson-Raybould speaks during a news conference in Ottawa in June 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Undoubtedly, the director of the <a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/">Public Prosecution Service of Canada</a> and the attorney general would have considered all the above factors. And ultimately, as attorney general, Wilson-Raybould had the final say on whether to negotiate a DPA.</p>
<p>Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s former principal secretary, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5025941/gerald-butts-testimony-transcript/">testified that the PMO</a> believed that the final decision was the attorney general’s, and that there was no intention to interfere. </p>
<p>But Butts added that he and others believed Wilson-Raybould could change her mind up until conviction. <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-butts-testimony-have-i-mentioned-the-9000-jobs/">This assertion was ridiculed by commentators</a>, yet the DPA legislation supports that interpretation.</p>
<p>The new legislation clearly states that if a DPA is negotiated, then the prosecutor can stay any ongoing proceedings. In other words, if a criminal trial has already started, the prosecutor can intervene, halt or defer it due to the DPA. </p>
<p>Butts also testified the Department of Justice had suggested an outside opinion should be pursued, which is how the names of <a href="https://www.hilltimes.com/2019/02/20/perception-a-problem-with-retired-supreme-court-justices-involved-in-the-highly-partisan-snc-lavalin-affair-say-some-court-watchers/189376">retired Supreme Court Justices arose</a> amid the controversy. </p>
<p>Butts’ testimony, in short, was that there was no intention to interfere, but only to ensure that no stones had been left unturned in this new DPA environment, which is why a “second opinion” was suggested.</p>
<p>Given that they were dealing with Wilson-Raybould, a one-time prosecutor and the justice minister who ushered in the new DPA legislation, it’s unfortunate no one in the PMO stopped to think that she might fully understand the law. </p>
<h2>‘Strongly advise against it’</h2>
<p>Wilson-Raybould testified that during a conversation in September 2018 when Trudeau reportedly mentioned the upcoming Quebec election, she asked him directly if he was interfering with her decision as attorney general, and if so she would “strongly advise against.”</p>
<p>She <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5006450/jody-wilson-raybould-testimony-transcript/">testified he denied such interference, and said he was simply seeking a solution</a>. </p>
<p>It’s not implausible that a politician would look to help their constituents, and that a prime minister would seek to protect the national economic interest, regardless of party.</p>
<p>Subsequently, there has been clarification from the PMO that the concern in September and throughout the fall was for Canada’s national economic interests, including jobs and revenues. </p>
<p>Trudeau’s caucus, and ultimately Canadians, will decide his political fate as the SNC-Lavalin saga continues. But unless some new evidence is unveiled, it seems that the PMO and staff genuinely believed they were not interfering. </p>
<p>In the meantime, there are some broader questions for Canadians to contemplate.</p>
<p>Despite the national economic interest, if we are serious about stamping out corporate crime, is it time we stopped giving corporations options rarely available to individuals?</p>
<p>It may also be time to revisit the wisdom of having one person hold the attorney general portfolio, which requires vigilant independence from political concerns, and the job of justice minister, which requires by necessity a cabinet team player with political concerns.</p>
<p><em>This story has been updated to clarify that Canadian courts must approve all deferred prosecution agreements, but the court can impose any conditions on the DPA that it deems fit — including amending its terms. At this time, other OECD countries that use DPAs have more limited roles for courts.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113095/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sukanya Pillay receives funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario and has previously worked for organizations receiving grants from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Canadian Internet Regulatory Authority, and private foundations. In 2016, Pillay was advocating on behalf of a non-profit organization for changes to be made to Canada's national security and federal prison laws, and in that context, met twice with the former Attorney General.</span></em></p>The SNC-Lavalin controversy has resulted in some misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the legal mechanism at its heart: Deferred prosecution agreements.Sukanya Pillay, Visiting Professor and Law Foundation of Ontario Scholar, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1130962019-03-12T20:50:24Z2019-03-12T20:50:24ZJustin Trudeau cabinet resignations a rarity in Canadian history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263448/original/file-20190312-86678-a1yzf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould are seen during a news conference in Ottawa in June 2016. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Social media has made <a href="https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/kzn9d3/cell-phones-linked-to-unhappiness">every day a huge news day</a>. Responses to political developments are regularly framed in apocalyptic turns. It is not only a challenge to determine whether news is real or fake; all news is immediately contextualized as the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-All-1927-Yankees/dp/B000NLA75Y">1927 Yankees</a> of bombshells. </p>
<p>The Earth is scorched, the end is near, each new revelation has shades <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/the-snc-lavalin-affair-has-shades-of-watergate-just-like-every-other-scandal">of Watergate</a>. </p>
<p>The SNC-Lavalin saga is now <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-pmo-pressed-justice-minister-to-abandon-prosecution-of-snc-lavalin/">more than a month old</a>. The story has dominated the Canadian national news cycle for weeks; television <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/cbc-news-at-issue">political panels</a> have been convened at a rate not seen since the days of <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/nigel-wright-wrote-personal-cheque-for-90k-to-repay-mike-duffy-s-expenses-1.1282538">Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy</a>. Public opinion polls have started to reveal <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-snc-lavalin-trudeau-polls-1.5048419">the impact</a> of the scandal on voting intentions. </p>
<p>And because of the breathless coverage of the political fallout, it’s easy to overlook the resignations of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott as a truly historic cabinet event. </p>
<p>Based on one measure — the volume and timing of ministerial resignations — 2019 has been a historic year in Canadian federal cabinet governance. Yes, only two people resigned, <a href="http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/SC94-107-2004E.pdf">but ministerial resignations on principle, policy or political strategy are rare</a>. Multiple ministerial resignations on principle, policy or political strategy are unicorns. </p>
<h2>Few cabinet resignations over disagreements</h2>
<p>Since Confederation, almost 700 people have served in federal cabinet — only 26, or around four per cent, have resigned over disagreements with the government. </p>
<p>This type of resignation has become even rarer over time — Stephen Harper <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tory-cabinet-minister-quits-post-over-motion-1.585951">only had one</a>, Paul Martin <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/comuzzi-quits-cabinet-over-same-sex-bill-1.535770">had one</a>, Jean Chretien endured no resignations of this type and Brian Mulroney experienced two, most notably <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/mulroney-i-ll-never-forgive-bouchard-s-betrayal-1.255259">Lucien Bouchard’s departure</a> over the Meech Lake accord, which led to the creation of the Bloc Québecois. </p>
<p>Bouchard’s case highlights that many of the 26 resignations have been, like the current controversy, steeped in political drama and intrigue. Pierre Trudeau lost a minister who tried to form his <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-hellyer">own party called Action Canada</a>.</p>
<p>The Wilson-Raybould/Philpott resignations are historic because it is only the fourth time in Canadian history that a prime minister has lost multiple ministers as the result of a single decision or incident. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263452/original/file-20190312-86678-1x9qqk2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bowell is seen in this 1896 photo.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first time is a favourite for Canadian history buffs. Short-serving prime minister Mackenzie Bowell described the seven ministers who resigned his cabinet in 1896 over their loss of confidence in Bowell as a <a href="https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/primeministers/h4-3132-e.html">“nest of traitors.”</a> He was ultimately forced out of office over Catholic school rights in Manitoba.</p>
<p>The second time multiple ministers resigned in response to the same incident occurred in the Mackenzie King government during the <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/the-conscription-crisis-of-1944-1">1944 conscription crisis</a>. King’s decision-making on sending soldiers overseas led to the resignation of two ministers on opposite sides of the conscription debate, <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/party-politician-memoirs-Chubby-Power/dp/B0006BSJ42">Chubby Power</a> and <a href="https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/12/">James Ralston</a>, although historians suggest the pro-conscription Ralston was forced to quit.</p>
<p>The third time, in February 1963 under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, George Hees, Pierre Sevigny and Douglas Harkness resigned over the span of a week in response to the government’s position on housing nuclear missiles as part of NORAD.</p>
<h2>Shows how cabinet works</h2>
<p>Lumping in the 2019 cabinet resignations with Bowell, King and Diefenbaker may be notable in a trivial sense, but the incident has also provided ample information on how cabinet works, leading to many substantive debates. </p>
<p>In the last month, commentary has focused on <a href="http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/march-2019/racialized-women-politicians-still-get-different-news-treatment/">how the media covers female ministers</a>, <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/jody-wilson-raybould-snc-lavalin-scandal-system-working/">the workings of cabinet</a> and the history of women leaving Canadian cabinets.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/saying-no-to-power-the-resignations-of-women-cabinet-members-112693">Saying no to power: The resignations of women cabinet members</a>
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</em>
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<p>When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in front of Rideau Hall in 2015 that “<a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2015/11/04/crowds-gather-to-watch-justin-trudeau-and-cabinet-sworn-in-at-rideau-hall/">government by cabinet is back</a>” he brought an unusual amount of attention to his government. His cabinet was much smaller than most modern federal cabinets, and was the most gender and racially diverse in Canadian history. </p>
<p>Trudeau promised not only changes at a descriptive level, but also operational — ministers would be more empowered than in previous cabinets during an era of increasing centralization of power in the Prime Minister’s Office. The high expectations have only proved to shine a brighter light on the current cabinet turmoil. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263458/original/file-20190312-86693-6l5j0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould embrace during the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in November 2015 in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Across all levels of government in Canada, ministerial resignations on the basis of political, policy or principled disagreement with the government are unusual and remarkable (we should not forget the recent and incredible case of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-revolt-5-ministers-resign-from-premier-greg-selinger-s-cabinet-1.2822608">five provincial ministers</a> resigning in Manitoba under Premier Greg Selinger). </p>
<h2>A different type of cabinet</h2>
<p><a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/macdonald-and-ashe-wilson-raybould-and-philpott-are-showing-us-what-feminist-governance-looks-like">But as experts have noted</a>, Trudeau’s is a different type of cabinet. </p>
<p>This means that while we should understand these resignations as historic, they could also do something entirely new: They could challenge the stubborn trends of strict cabinet solidarity and power struggles behind closed doors. </p>
<p>Due to cabinet confidentiality and ministerial oaths of secrecy, the institution of cabinet is one of the country’s most difficult to understand. It can take years, and after-the-fact <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Way-Works-Inside-Ottawa/dp/0771035624">insiders’</a> <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/at-the-centre-of-government-products-9780773552906.php">accounts</a>, to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of a powerful institution.</p>
<p>While the Wilson-Raybould/Philpott resignations are historic by the numbers, they may also prove historic in creating a new faith in a previously elite and closed decision-making body that possesses a tremendous influence over the lives of Canadians. </p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on March 12, 2019. The earlier story said Diefenbaker lost one minister over the nuclear weapons issue, but he in fact lost three.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>J.P. Lewis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.J.P. Lewis, Associate Professor, History and Politics, University of New BrunswickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1132342019-03-11T21:37:19Z2019-03-11T21:37:19ZCanada’s SNC-Lavalin decisions affect people in the world’s poorest countries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263055/original/file-20190310-86690-pqhb08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the last month, the Canadian government has been embroiled in a political controversy, involving allegations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put undue pressure on Jody Wilson-Raybould, the country’s former justice minister and attorney general, to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement with Québec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group.</p>
<p>In Canada, such agreements — which have already been adopted in the United Kingdom and the United States — empower the <a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/dpp-dpp/index.html">Director of Public Prosecutions</a> to negotiate reduced sentences with companies whose officials have been accused of engaging in <a href="https://www.lawtimesnews.com/author/dale-smith/bill-aims-to-change-way-white-collar-crime-punished-15806/">criminal acts</a>. </p>
<p>In the midst of the saga, the prime minister’s principal secretary and two senior members of his government – Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott – have resigned from cabinet, and the SNC-Lavalin affair shows no signs of abating.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/saying-no-to-power-the-resignations-of-women-cabinet-members-112693">Saying no to power: The resignations of women cabinet members</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>So far, the vast majority of political and media commentary has focused on the appropriateness of the actions of the Prime Minister’s Office and the economic impact of jeopardizing 9,000 jobs in Canada should SNC-Lavalin face criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>These aren’t inconsequential matters. But they are part of a much wider conversation that needs to be had about the economic and political consequences of allowing and condoning corrupt business practices outside of Canada.</p>
<h2>Guarding against corruption</h2>
<p>Promoting and protecting jobs in Canada is part of any government’s political mandate. But so too is the responsibility of ensuring that Canadian businesses are not creating further costs for countries whose governments and populations are least able to bear the burden of endemic corruption.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/snc-lavalin-canadas-anti-foreign-bribery-laws-did-their-job-112758">SNC-Lavalin: Canada’s anti-foreign bribery laws did their job</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>What are some of these burdens?</p>
<p>First, bribery inflates the costs of undertaking infrastructure projects that have real and significant benefits for poor people in the developing world.</p>
<p>Take for instance the case of Bangladesh, a country in which SNC-Lavalin was accused of bribing officials in the construction of the Padma Bridge, a US$1.2 billion project that was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-18655846">being funded by the World Bank.</a></p>
<p>According to a recent <a href="https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/road-construction-cost-way-too-high-1423132">World Bank study,</a> road construction in Bangladesh is up to 10 times more expensive than it is in India and China, reflecting the costs of high-level corruption. Although the charges against SNC-Lavalin in Canada were <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/corruption/2017/02/11/3-snc-lavalin-officials-acquitted-padma-bridge-graft-case/">ultimately dropped</a>, the company’s international subsidiary — SNC-Lavalin Inc. — was barred from bidding on all future World Bank infrastructure projects for a <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/04/17/world-bank-debars-snc-lavalin-inc-and-its-affiliates-for-ten-years">period of 10 years.</a> </p>
<p>Second, bribery narrows the pool of possible applicants, reducing the quality of services and benefits. Tendering large infrastructure projects is a complex process, <a href="https://www.u4.no/publications/corruption-in-the-construction-of-public-infrastructure-critical-issues-in-project-preparation.pdf">involving many officials</a>, but shrinking the pool makes it difficult to ensure that contractors are meeting their targets and deadlines.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2018/jul/30/what-china-belt-road-initiative-silk-road-explainer">China’s Belt and Road Initiative</a>, aimed at building construction projects in more than 60 countries to connect Asia, Africa and Europe, has widened the field. </p>
<p>But its approach entails using debt to secure infrastructure contracts, producing work that has been described <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html">as sub-standard</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/24/world/americas/ecuador-china-dam.html">incomplete.</a> </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263135/original/file-20190311-86682-1nn59pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this May 2017 photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the opening of the Belt and Road Forum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Third, bribery puts money in the hands of a small and powerful elite, further undermining the prospects for democratic governance that are so strongly associated with <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/124841468185354669/pdf/WPS7408.pdf">improved living standards and economic performance</a>. </p>
<h2>An ethical foreign policy?</h2>
<p>In the case of Libya, SNC-Lavalin stands accused of paying $48 million in bribes to public officials, including Saadi Gadhafi, the son of Libya’s former dictator, <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/news/canada/snc-lavalin-paid-for-dictator-muammar-gaddafis-son-to-have-a-wild-montreal-weekend-with-porn-and-escorts">for travel, hotels and escorts.</a> </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1164&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1164&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263056/original/file-20190310-86682-1s8t6zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1164&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saadi Gadhafi, third son of the Libyan leader, is seen in this February 2005 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Dan Peled)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beyond the obvious legal and ethical implications of this particular case, a major problem with corruption of this kind is that it hollows out the foundations for democratic governance that are absolutely essential for achieving <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance/brief/anti-corruption">long-term sustainable development.</a> </p>
<p>Defenders argue that paying bribes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jwebb/2016/10/27/85-of-managers-resort-to-bribery-when-trading-in-developing-economies/#7ee56c1e3d03">is part of doing business</a>, but doing so also undermines critical public institutions, such as the judiciary, the executive and the civil service. It diverts public and private investment away from employment and infrastructure (as well as education and health care) into the assets and foreign bank accounts of political elites. </p>
<p>When the Liberals came to power in 2015, they promised to <a href="http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-international-development-and-la-francophonie-mandate-letter">“refocus Canada’s development assistance on helping the poorest and most vulnerable, and supporting fragile states.”</a> </p>
<p>With the case of SNC-Lavalin, the government now finds itself in the unenviable position of having to choose between supporting a company that has been accused of engaging in widespread corruption or sticking to the humanitarian principles that were part of its original mandate. </p>
<p>It’s true the company employs more than 50,000 people in <a href="http://www.snclavalin.com/en/files/documents/publications/fact-sheet-corp-usletter_en.pdf">50 countries around the world</a>, but it must also be noted that SNC-Lavalin’s actions —and those of the Prime Minister’s Office — have implications for people living outside of Canada, including those in some of the world’s poorest and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/snc-lavalin-corruption-dpa-what-happens-next-1.5049456">most unstable countries</a>.</p>
<p>Although they don’t vote in Canadian elections, and they probably don’t hold shares in SNC-Lavalin, they are stakeholders too, and their interests should be part of the conversation. Such are the foundations of an ethical foreign policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Anthony Johnson receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iftekharul Haque does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Craig Anthony Johnson, Professor and Director, Guelph Institute of Development Studies, University of GuelphIftekharul Haque, Ph.D. candidate, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1128312019-03-10T13:10:02Z2019-03-10T13:10:02ZSNC-Lavalin & the need for fresh thinking around independence and interference<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262752/original/file-20190307-82669-l4dgvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Was former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould’s decision-making on Québec’s SNC-Lavalin subjected to inappropriate interference?</p>
<p>Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-gerald-buttss-master-class-in-taking-down-an-adversary/">was insistent the Prime Minister’s Office did not exert any undue pressure</a> on Wilson-Raybould during his testimony to a House of Commons justice committee. The prime minister, meantime, says <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-snc-lavalin-1.5046438">he was unaware she ever felt pressured.</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“…what exactly constitutes pressure?” <strong>Gerald Butts, testifying at the House of Commons justice committee</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>That is the question at the heart of the SNC-Lavalin controversy. And it illuminates a greater, even more powerful set of issues related to identifying and preventing inappropriate interference in a variety of government contexts.</p>
<p><em>Administrative actors</em> is the legal term used to cover the wide swath of decision-makers that emanate principally from the executive branch of government. </p>
<p>Administrative actors include tribunals responsible for a broad array of matters that affect almost every aspect of the social and economic well-being of everyday Canadians. That includes work and employment, health, social benefits and human rights, as well as regulatory areas such as natural resources and broadcasting. </p>
<h2>Cabinet ministers often get involved</h2>
<p>There are administrative actors all over Canada at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels. They generally operate at arm’s length from cabinet and government departments, but nonetheless, cabinet ministers are often required by statute to make individualized decisions as part of their mandate.</p>
<p>An example of how ministerial decision-making affects the lives of individuals can be found in the <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/FullText.html">Immigration and Refugee Protection Act</a> (IRPA). <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/FullText.html">Under provisions of the Act</a>, the minister of Citizenship and Immigration has the authority to stay the enforcement of a removal order on humanitarian and compassionate grounds such as <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1717/index.do">to protect the best interests of a child</a>. </p>
<p>The minister also has the discretion to permit an individual to stay in Canada by granting an exemption from applicable criteria or requiring that alternative obligations be met, and may do so as a public policy consideration.</p>
<p>But warding off political interference is important across the spectrum of administrative actors. </p>
<p>The reasons are twofold. Firstly, decisions should be made in a manner that doesn’t place any weight on extraneous, irrelevant factors.</p>
<p>An example of a decision based on irrelevant factors is contained in the landmark 1959 <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2751/index.do">Roncarelli versus Duplessis</a> ruling, the first Supreme Court of Canada decision to address political interference. The case involved the cancellation of a prominent Montréal restauranteur’s liquor licence “and his application for renewal rejected, to which was added a declaration by the respondent that no future licence would ever issue to him.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262750/original/file-20190307-82672-17xpcsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Premier Maurice Duplessis of Quebec arrives at Superior Court in Montreal where Frank Roncarelli launched a $118,000 action against him in 1950. The case ended up at the Supreme Court of Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In finding in favour of Frank Roncarelli, the Supreme Court determined that he’d lost his liquor licence as a form of punishment because of his support of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religious existence was seen as a threat in 1950s Québec. </p>
<h2>‘Disintegration of rule of law’</h2>
<p>Justice Ivan Rand held that permitting public officers to act for purposes not within the scope of their discretion under the governing statute would signal the disintegration of the rule of law. </p>
<p>The Roncarelli ruling is a celebrated decision for its early definition and support of the rule of law. But its comments on political interference leave something to be desired. </p>
<p>The court recognized that the liquor licence commissioner was acting on the orders of Maurice Duplessis, who held the dual role of attorney-general and premier of the province of Québec. </p>
<p>But the court determined that it didn’t need to analyze the arguments presented that Duplessis’s interference was also at fault since it had already found that the law backed Roncarelli. </p>
<p>The Roncarelli case was therefore not only the first significant case to examine political interference, it was also the first to illustrate the weak decisions that have occurred when political interference on administrative decision-making has been brought to court. </p>
<p>In the SNC-Lavalin case, it’s correctly been noted that the decision to prosecute would have an impact not only the company but also those who were affected by its alleged actions.</p>
<p>But it’s also raised questions about respecting the rule of law. Even if the law has political dimensions, when it comes to its interpretation and application, the public should have confidence that the decision-maker will be working from their own moral conscience and understanding of the applicable law. They must not be swayed by those who haven’t been mandated to make the decision.</p>
<p>Wilson-Raybould touched on this in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkDweZcSO-E&t=18s&list=PL3IeOAQ6oLI8jAnyN1iGFRwiJUclhstEF&index=2">her recent testimony to the House of Commons committee</a>, but it’s also one that has deep roots in Canadian administrative law as seen in both the Roncarelli ruling and the
2009 case <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2009/2009fc353/2009fc353.html">Keen versus Canada (Attorney General)</a>.</p>
<p>Some would argue the Keen case is among the clearest examples of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2008/01/17/pm_blasted_for_firing_of_nuclear_watchdog.html">political interference of our time.</a> </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262751/original/file-20190307-82688-ohwt2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Linda Keen is seen in this April 2011 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Linda Keen <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nuclear-safety-watchdog-head-fired-for-lack-of-leadership-minister-1.748815">was removed from her position</a> as president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission following a decision that had plainly displeased Canada’s natural resources minister at the time, Gary Lunn. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca/">Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission</a> regulates all nuclear facilities and activities in Canada. In 2007, the commission decided to keep closed a nuclear power plant that had been temporarily shut down for routine maintenance because of its failure to meet safety standards.</p>
<p>Lunn engaged in a weekend conference call with Keen and members of the commission in which he requested an immediate hearing in order to approve the restart of the reactor. </p>
<p>This followed a prior conference call between Lunn, commission officials and the operators of the reactor during which the Conservative cabinet minister urged them to work together to resolve the issue.</p>
<p>Overall, Lunn’s interactions with Keen appeared to reveal a misperception of the relationship between his office and the commission. While the minister is responsible for reporting to Parliament on behalf of the commission, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, as an arm’s-length independent body, was not responsible for accounting to Lunn for the decisions it made. </p>
<h2>Keen took the case to Federal Court</h2>
<p>After being unceremoniously removed from the position of president and demoted, Keen brought an application for judicial review in the Federal Court of Canada.</p>
<p>But the court held only that the circumstances of her termination were sufficient to satisfy the requirements of fairness since she was serving “at the pleasure” of the Crown. </p>
<p>It’s time for some fresh new thinking, and political and social leadership, on the issue of political interference. </p>
<p>We need to determine genuine and accurate criteria when it comes to the situations that affect independence. It’s only then that we can advocate for appropriate political leadership through legislation, and the development of good governance values to counteract such interference. </p>
<p>The Jody Wilson-Raybould controversy provides a useful example from which we can learn, and her reference to Indigenous principles may offer yet another valuable resource from which to draw.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laverne Jacobs has received research funding from The Canadian Institute of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Fulbright Foundation. She currently sits on the Condominium Authority Tribunal of Ontario. Her views are her own.</span></em></p>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.Laverne Jacobs, Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Studies, Faculty of Law, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1127582019-03-06T23:12:27Z2019-03-06T23:12:27ZSNC-Lavalin: Canada’s anti-foreign bribery laws did their job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262302/original/file-20190306-48438-3izwk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the heart of the scandal engulfing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government are allegations that it attempted to politically interfere with the prosecution of Québec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. </p>
<p>We continue to learn more about the allegations. Both Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s former principal secretary, and Michael Wernick, Clerk of the Privy Council, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/the-latest-butts-wernick-testify-at-justice-committee-on-snc-lavalin-affair">have testified about the former attorney general’s allegations</a> to the House of Commons Justice Committee, denying Jody Wilson-Raybould was pressured to allow SNC-Lavalin to avoid criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>The prime minister also says <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-snc-lavalin-1.5046438">he was unaware she ever felt pressured.</a></p>
<p>But we should not reflexively impugn laws that many Canadians might now associate with SNC-Lavalin, including those that could have terminated its prosecution.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-45.2/">anti-foreign bribery law</a> that SNC-Lavalin is charged with violating, and the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-179.html?txthl=remediation+agreement#s-715.3">remediation agreement</a>that Wilson-Raybould <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/read-jody-wilson-rayboulds-full-remarks-to-the-house-of-commons-justice-committee">testified</a> that she was pressured to pursue, are both promising pieces of Canadian policy. They’re aimed at combating corruption in international business and corporate crime.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-the-snc-lavalin-affair-is-overblown-but-the-liberals-still-bungled-it">some have raised questions</a> about why Canada prohibits its businesses from bribery overseas — particularly in countries where bribery can be common — Canada’s efforts to fight foreign bribery are not only required, but urgently needed.</p>
<p>Canada assumed obligations under international law to criminalize foreign bribery by becoming a party to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (the OECD) <a href="http://www.oecd.org/corruption/oecdantibriberyconvention.htm">Anti-Bribery Convention</a>, as well as the Organization for American States’s <a href="http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/inter_american_treaties_B-58_against_Corruption.asp">Inter-American Convention Against Corruption</a> and the United Nations <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/">Convention Against Corruption</a>.</p>
<p>Foreign bribery prohibitions focus on only one side of a bribery transaction — the “supply” rather than the “demand” for bribery — but they’re needed to address corruption in international business.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-snc-lavalin-affair-and-the-politics-of-prosecution-111778">The SNC-Lavalin affair and the politics of prosecution</a>
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<p>Host states to international business can prosecute public officials for accepting bribes, but institutional weaknesses and complicity of government officials in corruption can often make this difficult in practice.</p>
<h2>Curbing the export of corruption</h2>
<p>Prohibitions of foreign bribery by wealthy OECD states like Canada that have both significant regulatory capacity and active engagement with the international economy can fill the void. They can curb <a href="https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/exporting_corruption_progress_report_2014_assessing_enforcement_of_the_oecd">“the export of corruption globally,”</a> according to Transparency International, a well-respected anti-corruption organization.</p>
<p>This is all the more necessary for Canada — a leading player in the global extractive sector, well-known for its <a href="http://www.oecd.org/corruption/oecd-foreign-bribery-report-9789264226616-en.htm">high risk of corruption</a>. </p>
<p>There is evidence that anti-foreign bribery laws are working. A <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/nonstate-actors-and-compliance-with-international-agreements-an-empirical-analysis-of-the-oecd-antibribery-convention/D1C73B9EB2378B30981F8C9C99ADB4A9">recent study</a> finds that “even minimal enforcement” of these laws makes a corporation less likely to pay bribes abroad. </p>
<p>Canada and all states stand to benefit if corruption in international business is reduced. The <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13493.doc.htm">cost of corruption</a> is estimated at five per cent of global gross domestic product, or US$2.6 trillion dollars. </p>
<p>Reducing corruption globally is also expected to advance the UN’s <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/peace-justice/">sustainable development goals</a> and reduce <a href="http://www.thievesofstate.com/">security risks</a>, not to mention improve the daily lives of citizens in <a href="https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/corruption_perceptions_index_2017_shows_high_corruption_burden_in_more_than">two-thirds of the world’s countries</a> with high levels of corruption. </p>
<h2>The promise of a new enforcement tool</h2>
<p>The remediation agreements that the Prime Minister’s Office allegedly pressured Wilson-Raybould to consider were introduced into law in June 2018. A remediation agreement allows a corporation accused of certain criminal offences, including foreign bribery, to obtain a stay of proceedings if the corporation agrees to specific penalties. </p>
<p>SNC-Lavalin was one of <a href="https://www.acec.ca/files/Advocacy/ACEC%20Submission%20on%20DPA%20Consultation.pdf">many businesses</a> that supported remediation agreements, as did <a href="http://www.transparencycanada.ca/tica-publication/another-arrow-quiver-consideration-deferred-prosecution-agreement-scheme-canada/?">Transparency International Canada</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262305/original/file-20190306-48450-yu5ypg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SNC-Lavalin President and CEO Neil Bruce following the company’s annual general meeting in Montreal in May 2018. Bruce stressed the need for changes to Canada’s anti-corruption measures ‘as expeditiously as possible.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Looking at international trends can help us understand why remediation agreements may have been attractive to domestic organizations and the government, even without the SNC-Lavalin prosecution. </p>
<p>As I’ve <a href="http://ubclawreview.ca/issues/vol-51-no-3-september-2018/">described elsewhere</a>, Canada originally implemented its international anti-foreign bribery obligations using exclusively criminal-law tools — criminal prohibitions and criminal investigations and prosecutions. </p>
<p>Other OECD states used a broader range of tools, including civil or administrative prohibitions and diversionary resolution mechanisms like we see in the deferred prosecution agreements that are common in the United States. </p>
<p>But when it comes to enforcement, the traditional criminal-law tools that Canada had relied upon pose real challenges. </p>
<p>Obtaining evidence to meet the high threshold of criminal guilt can be particularly difficult when the defendant is a corporation. It’s even more demanding for a cross-border crime like foreign bribery where evidence and witnesses can be an ocean away. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.oecd.org/corruption/canadasenforcementoftheforeignbriberyoffencestilllaggingmusturgentlyboosteffortstoprosecute.htm">OECD has criticized Canada</a> for its “lagging” enforcement of anti-foreign bribery laws. With a <a href="http://www.oecd.org/corruption/oecd-anti-bribery-convention-phase-4.htm">new round of OECD reviews under way</a>, Canada is likely to face more international pressure. </p>
<h2>Signalled a commitment</h2>
<p>And so by adopting remediation agreements, Ottawa was able to signal its commitment to fighting foreign bribery. It also adopted a resolution tool — remediation agreements — that could ease some of its enforcement challenges.</p>
<p>The availability of remediation agreements provides an incentive to corporations to self-report wrongdoing and co-operate in any investigation. Such agreements also encourage reforms to corporate policy that can prevent criminal wrongdoing in the first place. </p>
<p>But to deliver on these promises, it’s crucial that remediation agreements operate as one enforcement tool within a broader regime that includes traditional criminal prosecutions. </p>
<p>The Trudeau government appears to have been well aware of the need to use remediation agreements judiciously. </p>
<p>The government solicited input during <a href="https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ci-if/ar-cw/aps-dpa-eng.html">public consultations</a> and <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-179.html?txthl=remediation+remedy#s-715.32">identified criteria</a> in the Criminal Code that would allow a prosecutor to invite a corporation to negotiate a remediation agreement. </p>
<p>These criteria include conditions that would weigh in favour of such an agreement, such as whether the corporation self-reported to authorities or made efforts to prevent future wrongdoing. </p>
<p>But other criteria — including whether the corporation faces allegations, sanctions or convictions for other criminal offences —would add up on the other side of the ledger. </p>
<h2>Criminal Code criteria</h2>
<p><a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-179.html">The Criminal Code also identifies criteria</a> that “the prosecutor must not consider.” Specifically, “the national economic interest” and “the identity of the organization” are not to be weighed if the corporation, like SNC-Lavalin, is charged with foreign bribery.</p>
<p>By adding remediation agreements to a legislative framework that sets clear criteria for eligibility, Canadian law has the potential to improve upon deferred prosecution agreements. DPAs developed in the U.S. through prosecutorial practice, and lack such explicit legislative guidance. </p>
<p>The eligibility criteria set out in the Criminal Code had been considered by Canadian prosecutors when they decided against allowing SNC-Lavalin to negotiate a remediation agreement. </p>
<p>Any political interference in this determination would undermine the law’s safeguards to ensure that remediation agreements are used judiciously and the promise made by such agreements to encourage good corporate behaviour.</p>
<p>And so political interference not only threatens prosecutorial independence and the rule of law, but also the potential of the new enforcement tool for corporate wrongdoing that the Trudeau government created.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112758/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Acorn receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>While the SNC-Lavalin scandal rages on, we should not lose sight of the importance of combating bribery crimes and enforcing the laws to prevent it.Elizabeth Acorn, Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer in Ethics, Politics and Economics, Yale UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1126932019-03-04T22:08:09Z2019-03-04T22:08:09ZSaying no to power: The resignations of women cabinet members<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261697/original/file-20190301-110123-u6grbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mary Ellen Smith is seen in this undated photo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Vancouver Archives</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>First in 1921 and now in 2019, the resignations of women cabinet ministers have exposed the limits of Canadian liberalism.</p>
<p>Suffragist <a href="https://www.vancourier.com/news/archives-b-c-s-first-female-mla-elected-1.1739485">Mary Ellen Smith, the first female cabinet minister in the British Empire, resigned from the British Columbia cabinet</a> almost a century ago. Ninety-eight years later, Indigenous <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/read-the-full-resignation-letter-from-jody-wilson-raybould-1.4293854">MP Jody Wilson-Raybould quit the federal cabinet</a>, followed <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/read-jane-philpott-s-full-resignation-letter-1.4321826">by activist doctor Jane Philpott</a>. </p>
<p>Even though the events played out almost 100 years apart, they’ve revealed the unrequited hopes of disadvantaged communities for a fair dealing.</p>
<p>In January 1921, B.C.’s <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-oliver">Liberal Premier “Honest John” Oliver</a>, sought new women voters to ensure his government retained power. To that end, he appointed as minister without portfolio the prominent suffragist who had become the province’s first female MLA. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/030001-1326-e.html">Mary Ellen Smith</a> was elected as an Independent in a 1918 by-election and then as a Liberal in 1920. Committing herself to “the people and the rights of the people,” she affirmed her allegiance to the Liberal Party’s progressive wing. Not to be forgotten, however, is that her supposedly progressive politics <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/canada-150-mary-ellen-smith-was-first-woman-elected-to-a-legislature-in-canada">included anti-Asian and pro-eugenics arguments,</a> not entirely uncommon 100 years ago.</p>
<p>Despite topping polls, rescuing Liberal seats and speaking for a broad community of feminist activists, Smith was denied departmental responsibility. Oversight of the mothers’ pensions and women’s minimum wage legislation, causes she had long championed, were assigned to less sympathetic politicians. </p>
<p>Her lack of budget, salary and staff did not stop Canadians from congratulating themselves on making history with her appointment. </p>
<h2>Appointment made headlines</h2>
<p>Almost a century later, in November 2015, Jody Wilson-Raybould of the We Wai Kai Nation <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/five-things-about-jody-wilson-raybould-canadas-new-justice-minister">became the first Indigenous justice minister and attorney-general</a> in Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. That appointment, with its signalling of reconciliation and equality, once again made headlines given Wilson-Raybould was the onetime treaty commissioner and regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261999/original/file-20190304-92280-zud430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Liberal cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott in a photo that Wilson-Raybould posted on Twitter the day of Philpott’s resignation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jody Wilson-Raybould/Twitter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Equally significant for contemporary federal Liberals, the presence of Wilson-Raybould in cabinet might have held the promise of potential votes from a rising Indigenous demographic — just as politicians had harboured similar hopes about Smith and women voters in the 1920s.</p>
<p>Wilson-Raybould, whose traditional name translates as “woman born to noble people,” quickly proved independent. <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/read-jody-wilson-rayboulds-resignation-letter/">As she wrote in her resignation letter</a>, she espoused “a positive and progressive vision of change” and “a different way of doing politics.” Like Smith, she stood on her party’s left.</p>
<p>Philpott, meantime, is a physician noted for her dedication to international development and to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples as minister for Indigenous services. <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberal-government-will-pursue-activist-agenda-federal-health-minister-says">She’s been a champion of progressive liberalism.</a></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1261&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1261&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261695/original/file-20190301-110130-1d2yoee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1261&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mary Ellen Smith is seen this 1918 portrait.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Vancouver archives</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Smith’s honeymoon with liberalism ended a century ago when she discovered she was neither to criticize nor advise her colleagues in government. In November 1921, scandals over liquor sales, railways and patronage and few benefits for women or workers drove her to resign. </p>
<p>Public reaction was mixed, but Smith’s hope that a chastened government would turn to the left did not happen. As women voters grew disenchanted in the 1920s, Liberal power-brokers sidelined Canada’s first female cabinet minister to largely ceremonial posts. </p>
<p>In January 2019, despite being widely applauded as an effective minister, <a href="https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/01/14/indigenous-justice-minister-demoted-cabinet-shuffle/">Wilson-Raybould was demoted from Justice to Veterans’ Affairs.</a> Less than a month later, she resigned from cabinet. </p>
<p>Philpott, on Ontario MP who had been promoted in the same cabinet shuffle that saw Wilson-Raybould’s demoted, joined her less than a month later, citing “core values, my ethical responsibilities and constitutional obligations.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1102660614307172352"}"></div></p>
<h2>Alleged pressure from PMO</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilson-raybould-testimony-liberals-1.5036494">In her testimony to the House of Commons judicial committee</a>, Wilson-Raybould alleged the Prime Minister’s Office pressured her to rescue a leading Canadian corporation, SNC-Lavalin, from criminal prosecution. <a href="https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/discriminatory_sexist_comments_about_minister_jody_wilson">Indigenous and</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-what-happened-to-our-feminist-prime-minister/">feminist allies,</a> long suspicious of what they consider a Liberal tendency to campaign on the left and govern on the right, quickly mobilized.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261988/original/file-20190304-92295-1e6forb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Philpott, then Indigenous Services minister, is seen with Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde in December 2018 in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the immediate aftermath of Wilson-Raybould’s resignation, progressive allies within the Liberal party had a lot to consider. In stark contrast to the situation in 1921, the stakes rose massively when Wilson-Raybould was joined by Philpott, a rising Liberal cabinet star. </p>
<p>What do resignations of these three prominent women politicians tell us? </p>
<p>Above all, Smith, Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were all well-known for seeking long-overdue political inclusion and reconciliation for chronically disadvantaged communities. </p>
<p>Their hopes rested with left-wing liberalism even as they tested its limits. </p>
<p>But 2019 is not 1921.</p>
<p>The outcome for Wilson-Raybould, and now Philpott, remains to be written. Almost 100 years ago, Mary Ellen Smith could be largely ignored following her resignation. Her two modern successors, on the other hand, appear far better equipped to battle for liberalism’s future — or to choose another political party.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112693/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Veronica Strong-Boag receives funding from SSHRCC. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria. </span></em></p>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.Veronica Strong-Boag, Professor Emerita, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1126942019-02-28T22:44:20Z2019-02-28T22:44:20ZJody Wilson-Raybould comes from a long line of Indigenous truth-tellers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261472/original/file-20190228-106368-1ea9x43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jody Wilson-Raybould appears at the House of Commons Justice Committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/02/27/canadians-stand-together-against-bullying-on-annual-pink-shirt-day.html">Anti-Bullying Day</a>, Canadians watched their former minister of justice and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould — a Kwakwaka’wakw Canadian woman — stand up to her bullies, the prime minister and his senior officials, as she testified at a Commons committee.</p>
<p>I am not a lawyer, and I do not claim to be an expert on the details surrounding prosecutorial discretion or remediation agreements, but I am a feminist and critical race scholar. And from my perspective, it was powerful to watch Wilson-Raybould calmly and firmly describe how, after she did her job and made a tough decision in the SNC-Lavalin case, she withstood consistent attempts by the government to pressure her to obstruct and interfere with justice. </p>
<p>During the testimony, Liberal MPs tried to discredit her by questioning her integrity. They implied she was difficult because she refused to “continually assess” the situation. They inferred that she was sneaky because she didn’t quit her job when first faced with what Wilson-Raybould called “consistent and sustained” political pressure, including “veiled threats” from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and officials in his office.</p>
<p>The MPs tried to make her sound inflexible when she refused the advice of senior officials to seek outside counsel. Or as Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland insinuated to the CBC, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/ottawa-morning/segment/15673566">Wilson-Raybould simply couldn’t handle robust discussion and pressure.</a></p>
<p>But what I saw was a strong, professional Indigenous woman defending the integrity of our justice system.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261536/original/file-20190228-106341-1t0qqga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jody Wilson-Raybould was sworn in as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in 2015. (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many women know what it feels like to have their credibility questioned by men while remaining steadfast in an opinion or refusing to comply. But Indigenous women in this country have a particularly brutal history with white male bullies. </p>
<p>As Wilson-Raybould told the House of Commons justice committee, she is a “truth-teller” who comes from a long line of matriarchs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Indeed, one of the main reasons for the urgent need for justice and reconciliation today is that in the history of our country we have not always upheld foundational values such as the rule of law in our relations with Indigenous peoples. …And I have seen the negative impacts for freedom, equality and a just society this can have firsthand.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Indigenous women’s independence</h2>
<p>When European colonists arrived in North America, they had specific ideas about appropriate female behaviour. Women were supposed to be submissive and domestic. Yet, as Winona Stevenson, a Canadian Cree scholar has shown in her historical research, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=ZSS5qocIPDUC&lpg=PA49&ots=oW_9ADLuYx&dq=Winona%20Stevenson%2C%20%E2%80%9CColonialism%20and%20First%20Nations%20Women%20in%20Canada%E2%80%9D%20scratching&pg=PA49#v=onepage&q=Winona%20Stevenson,%20%E2%80%9CColonialism%20and%20First%20Nations%20Women%20in%20Canada%E2%80%9D%20scratching&f=false">many Indigenous women lived a different reality.</a> </p>
<p>Whereas European women were confined to working in the home and obliged to obey their husbands, Indigenous women were often economically independent and actively involved in the public sphere. European missionaries were <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/493713?journalCode=signs">horrified by Indigenous women’s independence and autonomy</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0829320100003094">wrote extensively about their disdain for this freedom</a>. </p>
<p>Many Canadians don’t know the facts of our history well enough, but for the most part, Indigenous women had far more personal freedom, independence and security than white women did before Europeans arrived in North America. As <a href="http://gutsmagazine.ca/indigenous-women-two-spirited-people-work-decolonization/">Chelsea Vowel, a Métis legal scholar from manitow-sâkahikan, points out</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Even among nations with traditional binary gender roles or hierarchical socio-political orders, there is nothing that can accurately compare to the system of patriarchy imposed by colonialism which mainstream Settler feminism aligns itself against.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scholars who have studied the letters and documents written by both French and English missionaries have noted this recurrent theme, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0829320100003094">how missionaries actively tried to make Indigenous men complicit in their efforts</a> to control Indigenous women. </p>
<p>But First Nations, Inuit and Métis women have consistently resisted white men’s attempts to subjugate them, fighting back physically, running away and resisting controls on their freedom.</p>
<p>Sociologist Karen Anderson, for example, studied the Jesuit writings from New France and found that in the earliest documents, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1042341.Chain_Her_by_One_Foot">there were many descriptions of proud, disobedient and independent First Nations women</a> which seemed worrisome to Jesuit colonizers. </p>
<p>But three decades later, Anderson found fewer and fewer portraits of rebellious Indigenous women. Instead, she found story after story of Indigenous women chained, beaten and punished publicly if they did not obey men. The subjugation of Indigenous women is an integral part of Canada’s horrific colonial heritage.</p>
<h2>White feminists are part of the problem</h2>
<p>Many, including renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, artist and poet Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, have explained that gender discrimination is rooted in colonialism and both white men and women have played a role in the subjugation of Indigenous women in this country. As Simpson states, gender discrimination and violence <a href="https://www.leannesimpson.ca/writings/not-murdered-not-missing-rebelling-against-colonial-gender-violence">“are symptoms of the dispossession of Indigenous peoples from our territories.”</a></p>
<p>I expect that over the coming days and weeks, white women will line up to defend the prime minister and their privilege. Too often, the public face of feminism is white, but as Vowel notes, “to look at any of this solely through the lens of Western feminism is to miss the larger picture”. White feminists in power often fail to take into account the realities of Indigenous women and instead align themselves with white men.</p>
<p>When Wilson-Raybould made her firm and final decision on the SNC-Lavalin case and communicated this to the PMO, they would not take no for an answer. They hounded her even when she explicitly told them to stop despite her forceful protests. But she stood her ground. She stood up to sexism which is rooted in white supremacy.</p>
<p>Wilson-Raybould credited her family and culture with shaping her ways of being in the world. This is what a feminist looks like, Prime Minister Trudeau.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112694/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corrie Scott has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>Indigenous women had far more personal freedom than European women did before Europeans arrived.Corrie Scott, Associate professor, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1125942019-02-28T00:23:38Z2019-02-28T00:23:38ZIs Sir John A. Macdonald to blame for the Wilson-Raybould affair?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261355/original/file-20190228-150721-iwqgit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sir John A. Macdonald was not only Canada's first prime minister, he was the first justice minister and attorney general. Jody Wilson-Raybould has suggested the two roles should be split.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Archives of Canada/THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In her bombshell testimony before a House of Commons committee, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Canada’s former minister of justice and attorney general, described repeated attempts <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2019/02/27/jody-wilson-raybould-says-pressure-in-snc-lavalin-affair-was-inappropriate.html">at “political interference” by top government officials.</a></p>
<p>She told of “veiled threats” about her job and dark warnings about being headed for “a collision” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the issue of helping Québec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid a bribery trial.</p>
<p>Less dramatically — but with the potential to spark a major restructuring of her former ministry — Wilson-Raybould stated that she has long believed Canada should re-examine the conjoined federal department headed by the minister of justice and attorney general and consider “whether or not those two roles should be bifurcated.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1100895316339974144"}"></div></p>
<p>She added that a new structure could see an attorney general who would “not sit around the cabinet table,” referencing the British model that separates the justice minister and attorney general roles.</p>
<p>In the U.K., the office of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/attorney-generals-office">Attorney General</a>, a non-cabinet post, is separate from the cabinet position of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-justice">Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice</a>.</p>
<p>Splitting the two jobs in Canada is an idea that was raised recently by University of Ottawa law professor Adam Dodek, who advanced a timely and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-impossible-position-canadas-attorney-general-cannot-be-our/">important argument</a> about what he calls an “intolerable conflict” within the combined role of minister of justice and attorney general in Canada.</p>
<p>The conjoined cabinet post, he insists, is at the heart of the Wilson-Raybould controversy.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-snc-lavalin-affair-and-the-politics-of-prosecution-111778">The SNC-Lavalin affair and the politics of prosecution</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>He argued it’s time to sever the political, partisan role of the minister of justice from that of the ideally “independent” attorney general — the government’s chief legal adviser and litigator, someone expected to “put aside partisan concerns” in upholding the Constitution. It seems Wilson-Raybould agrees.</p>
<h2>Don’t ignore the history</h2>
<p>This is all good fodder for serious debate. But we shouldn’t embark on potential reforms by ignoring <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/the-canadian-department-of-justice-and-the-completion-of-confederation-1867-78">the history</a> that led to the 1868 creation of this country’s Department of Justice and the yoking of the <a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/fpsd-sfpg/fps-sfp/fpd/ch03.html">minister of justice and attorney general</a> jobs in a single cabinet position.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261142/original/file-20190227-150721-1mk7ste.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting of Robert Baldwin, 1855, in the U.K.’s National Portrait Gallery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Portrait Gallery</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Neither should we necessarily graft British appendages onto our body politic. As early as the 1840s, leading political reformers such as <a href="http://biographi.ca/en/bio/baldwin_robert_8E.html">Robert Baldwin</a> believed a policy-engaged, made-in-Canada version of attorney general “clothed with its present political character” was required “in a community like ours.”</p>
<p>Furthermore, we shouldn’t naively imagine that splitting these positions will somehow magically insulate government legal thinking from the sullying effects or pragmatic influences of politics. </p>
<p>There are, in fact, deep-rooted historical reasons why Canada has a combined minister of justice and attorney general. And as with many other contentious issues in modern Canada, to better understand this ministry we must reflect on the mixed legacy of Canada’s founding prime minister — who was also the first minister of justice and attorney general.</p>
<p>Yes, it could be argued that Sir <a href="http://biographi.ca/en/bio/macdonald_john_alexander_12E.html">John A. Macdonald</a>, so often a target for contemporary critics, is ultimately to blame for the Wilson-Raybould affair, too.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/john-a-macdonald-should-not-be-forgotten-nor-celebrated-101503">John A. Macdonald should not be forgotten, nor celebrated</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Filled the job himself</h2>
<p>Or should we credit Macdonald’s peculiar genius for statecraft — including the imperfect but practical compromise he struck between the political and legal imperatives of government — when he created the unified ministerial position in 1868 and promptly filled the job himself?</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that the ministry was formed after Washington spy <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/419858/summary">George W. Brega</a> provided Macdonald with a blueprint of planned changes to the U.S. Attorney General’s office. These matched the kind of dual-role ministry Macdonald was already planning for Ottawa.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261143/original/file-20190227-150688-zm7mae.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=835&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hewitt Bernard in 1868 in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library and Archives Canada</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The legislation that created Canada’s justice ministry was crafted by Macdonald and his brother-in-law, <a href="http://biographi.ca/en/bio/bernard_hewitt_12E.html">Hewitt Bernard</a>, deputy attorney general at the time. The project reflected Macdonald’s understanding of 19th-century <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/realpolitik">realpolitik</a> and — as head of a fragile, complicated new country — his perceived need for the law of the land to be informed by, and sometimes governed by, political considerations. </p>
<p>You can hear echoes of Macdonald when Trudeau — in response to accusations of political interference in the SNC-Lavalin case — refers to his government’s commitment “<a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4988388/justin-trudeau-snc-lavalin-jobs/">to defend jobs and to make sure that our economy is growing</a>” while simultaneously “upholding the rule of law.” </p>
<p>Unspoken (but also discernible in the government’s handling of the case) are concerns about Liberal election fortunes in Quebec — concerns referenced by Wilson-Raybould in her testimony.</p>
<p>While Macdonald often spoke about the sanctity of the law, he was a pragmatist. He excelled at working in the small spaces and along the edges of the law — in the service of the national interest, as he saw it, but also in his party’s interests.</p>
<p>In the case of <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pacific-scandal">the Pacific Scandal</a>, Macdonald wandered well past the edge of the law. He was consequently exiled from the prime ministership for five years following allegations his government accepted election funds from a shipping magnate in exchange for the contract to build the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway. </p>
<h2>The realities of governing</h2>
<p>Macdonald probably spoke of the attorney general being responsible for astute legal counsel. It’s not hard to imagine he likely nodded and winked at the realities of how the business of government actually worked in his day. </p>
<p>Thus the two offices were fused then — and remain so today — because of Macdonald’s sense of how government ought to function. Canada didn’t get a joint minister of justice and attorney general “just because;” it’s the result of Macdonald’s very conscious decisions, and his acceptance of the idea that, of course, legal decisions are political.</p>
<p>The dual position has endured under 22 subsequent prime ministers, both Conservative and Liberal. </p>
<p>But times have changed. As Prof. Dodek rightly points out, conflict-of-interest rules and other guiding principles of good governance have evolved. We may well be able to fashion a better ministerial structure in the 21st century than was envisioned 150 years ago.</p>
<p>But even if we think Macdonald rather cynical, we may find that keeping the justice and attorney general jobs together under one minister is still the best arrangement for this country.</p>
<p>In any case, we shouldn’t approach this worthwhile debate blind to the peculiarities of Canadian history nor swayed too much by the fiction of an apolitical attorney general — whether wearing one hat or two.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112594/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sir John A. Macdonald fused the jobs of justice minister and attorney general as Canada’s first prime minister. So is he partly to blame for the SNC-Lavalin controversy?Randy Boswell, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton UniversityJonathan Swainger, Professor of History, University of Northern British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1122082019-02-24T15:27:15Z2019-02-24T15:27:15ZIs the SNC-Lavalin controversy truly a scandal?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260271/original/file-20190221-195853-1pftavo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is the SNC-Lavalin controversy truly a political scandal? If so, it's unlike any we've seen before in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen here in January 2019 with Jody Wilson-Raybould after she was shuffled out of her job as attorney general.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Politics is cyclical; what goes around usually comes around again, as politicians and institutions follow long-term patterns of behaviour.</p>
<p>But the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-wilson-raybould-attorney-general-snc-lavalin-1.5014271">still-developing SNC-Lavalin story and resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould from cabinet</a> is bewildering and does not fit traditional patterns of Canadian politics. </p>
<p>Three things stand out: The complex nature of the “scandal,” <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/trudeau-s-principal-secretary-gerald-butts-resigns-1.4301856">the puzzling resignation of Gerald Butts</a> and the actions of Wilson-Raybould. </p>
<p>First is the nature of the “scandal.” A typical political scandal involves a person who did something wrong out of negligence or motivations of money, personal ambition, sex, etc. </p>
<p>But this is a much more complicated and abstract affair. No one is suggesting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his principal secretary Butts or anyone else in the Liberal Party did anything to line their own pockets, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/groupaction">unlike the sponsorship scandal in the early 2000s</a> in which the PMO turned a blind eye as many Liberals benefited handsomely.</p>
<p>Instead, Trudeau and Butts saw political advantage for the government to lighten up on SNC-Lavalin. There are political and economic interests that still clearly carry some weight in Québec. </p>
<p>In public affairs, what is legally wrong is not necessarily unacceptable politically, and vice versa. (For example, despite his outrageous spending practices, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/duffy-aquitted-of-all-31-charges-in-senate-expenses-trial/article29706093/">Sen. Mike Duffy was acquitted in 2016</a> of actually breaking the law.) </p>
<h2>Alleged pressure</h2>
<p>From a legal viewpoint, the issue here is the alleged undue pressure on the attorney-general — which, politically, is an internal matter no different from any other time the PMO throws its weight around. Indeed, this is how <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/as-debate-darkens-canadas-top-bureaucrat-warns-of-violence/">Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick recently characterized the entire matter</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260430/original/file-20190222-39858-kqxm3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wernick waits to appear before the Justice Committee meeting in Ottawa on Feb. 21, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From a political viewpoint, the more serious matter is the apparent demotion of Wilson-Raybould for not doing what the prime minister asked her to do, which, incidentally, is completely legal from a constitutional viewpoint. The economic dimension and the importance of SNC-Lavalin to Québec complicates matters even further, making this a unique multidimensional “scandal.” </p>
<p>The narrative is complicated and it’s not clear the story has caught fire with the general population. For example, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/trudeau-takes-personal-hit-amid-snc-lavalin-controversy-leger-poll-for-cp">one poll found that while 41 per cent of Canadians felt Trudeau had done something wrong in the affair, another 41 per cent said they weren’t sure</a>.</p>
<p>Given the above muddled narrative, conventional wisdom suggested that the story might just drag out and diminish over time. But then came the bombshell resignation of Butts, which really defies past practice. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260340/original/file-20190222-195861-17zxdzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Few photos of Nigel Wright, Harper’s onetime chief of staff, were in circulation prior to Mike Duffy’s trial. Wright is seen here in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While other PMO staff have also had great power, they have ultimately been hired help; none have claimed such a deep personal friendship with the prime minister (Brian Mulroney hired many friends, but they generally did not rise to or stay at the top tier). </p>
<p>Nor have any of them played such a public role, like Butts’ independent activity on Twitter. In contrast, Harper’s four chiefs of staff avoided publicity so much that the media was forced to constantly run the same grainy photos of them over and over again.</p>
<h2>Political triple play</h2>
<p>It’s this triple play of power, friendship ties and public profile that made Butts so exceptional, and thus made it so startling to see him become the first to go in what had seemed a serious but not catastrophic matter.</p>
<p>As the Liberal Party learned to its sorrow after <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/groupaction">calling the Gomery inquiry into the sponsorship controversy</a>, scandals are best smothered through equivocation and greyness rather than fanning the flames with dramatic action. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260274/original/file-20190221-195861-12gohmk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Butts is seen during a visit to the Great Wall of China in September 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Butts’ resignation was pretty much the most dramatic action possible and fits no pattern, provoking expectations that there is another shoe waiting to drop.</p>
<p>Finally, Wilson-Raybould’s actions do not fit the pattern of a ministerial resignation. When a minister resigns, they usually either disappear from view to sulk or do everything they can to own the story at the expense of the sitting government — in extreme cases setting up a virtual government-in-exile, like John Turner in relation to Pierre Trudeau or Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien.</p>
<p>Wilson-Raybould has done neither. While complicated by solicitor-client confidentiality (and we do not know who the anonymous sources are that have fed the story to the media), Wilson-Raybould has not adopted the usual techniques of non-stop interviews and op-eds to tell her side of the story, or even a non-story of: “There is so much I wish I could tell you but I can’t say anything.” </p>
<h2>Wilson-Raybould’s strategy unclear</h2>
<p>Instead, Wilson-Raybould has generally taken the high road. It’s hard to think of another ex-minister asking to come back and speak to the cabinet she just left or appearing in Parliament and then, quite reasonably, abstaining on a vote about herself.</p>
<p>Her intentions and strategy — if there is one — are unclear. It is worth noting that Canada’s first Indigenous woman attorney general and justice minister is doing politics differently and not following the well-worn playbook of dozens of male ex-ministers whose actions have been highly predictable and easily explained by sheer ego and pride.</p>
<p>The SNC-Lavalin story is still developing. </p>
<p>As more information and new developments emerge, we may be able to better fit it into typical patterns of Canadian political history. But for the moment, the SNC-Lavalin affair stands on its own as a complex, multi-dimensional story and not a typical political “scandal.”</p>
<p>The motivations of the key players remain unclear, and its long-term implications, especially for the coming election, are unknown.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Malloy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A standard political scandal involves a person who did something wrong out of negligence or motivations of money, personal ambition, sex, etc. But the SNC-Lavalin affair so far lacks those elements.Jonathan Malloy, Professor of Political Science, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1002932018-07-19T21:23:42Z2018-07-19T21:23:42ZTrudeau’s cabinet shuffle patches holes before next election<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228503/original/file-20180719-142408-g0e58c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mary Ng is hugged by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after being sworn in as Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion during a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall on July 18, 2018. The cabinet shuffle sets the stage for the next federal election in the fall of 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-cabinet-shuffle-2018-1.4749976">recent cabinet shuffle</a> could be considered as minor, because he left many key ministers in place.</p>
<p><a href="http://cfreeland.liberal.ca/">Chrystia Freeland</a> remains in Foreign Affairs, <a href="http://bmorneau.liberal.ca/">Bill Morneau</a> in Finance and <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister/honourable-jody-wilson-raybould">Jody Wilson-Raybould</a> in Justice, occupying what many regard as the most important portfolios for any federal government. </p>
<p>Perhaps the prime minister believes they’ve been successful to date, despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/consumers-to-pay-the-price-as-canada-punches-back-against-u-s-tariffs-97685">continuing trade skirmishes with the United States</a>, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/morneau-credits-simpler-small-business-tax-plan-to-crowdsourcing/article38157292/">tax proposals for small businesses</a> from which the government has largely retreated and outstanding issues <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/cannabis/cannabis-business/health-canada-warns-cannabis-companies-against-sponsoring-music-festivals-and-promoting-pot">regarding cannabis regulation</a> and <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/society/assisted-dying-was-supposed-to-be-an-option-to-some-patients-it-looks-like-the-only-one/">assisted dying</a>.</p>
<p>The only minister essentially <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/once-a-rising-star-melanie-joly-demoted-after-hurting-liberals-in-quebec">demoted is Melanie Joly</a>, probably because the Heritage portfolio’s issues (notably exemption from taxation for Netflix and weak efforts to encourage Canadian cultural production) seem to have overwhelmed her. </p>
<p>Many other changes seem largely inconsequential. And yet it’s not really a minor cabinet shuffle at all.</p>
<h2>Federal election on the horizon</h2>
<p>First, it’s probably the last cabinet shuffle before the 2019 election. It’s not impossible to imagine further changes before then, but it’s unlikely, because ministers are normally given a chance to settle in and show what they can do before the government goes again to the polls.</p>
<p>Second, with an election next year, Trudeau has taken the opportunity to change portfolios and ministers so as to highlight areas where he may face campaign challenges. If new faces in new roles can be successful, the Liberals will feel more confident entering the first campaign in which their record as a government will be the focus of attention.</p>
<p>What are the areas the prime minister has signalled needed shoring up? Where are the holes he is trying to plug?</p>
<p>First, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-still-aiming-for-intensive-nafta-talks-even-though-trumps-in/">as NAFTA renegotiations drag on</a> (or are stalled), there is enormous pressure to find ways to be less dependent on the U.S. market. It has long been an aim of Canadian governments to broaden the list of places to which we export, and to diversify the list of goods and services we make available.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the threats to NAFTA’s survival have significantly increased the urgency of those aims.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-nafta-canada-must-find-new-global-markets-98430">Beyond NAFTA: Canada must find new global markets</a>
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<p>The renaming of International Trade to Trade Diversification, <a href="https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/jim-carr-takes-over-as-canadas-new-trade-minister-488562721.html">with Jim Carr moving from Natural Resources to head the ministry</a>, is intended to respond to that urgency, as is the increased focus on export promotion in the Small Business portfolio now under <a href="https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/8748798-markham-thornhill-mp-mary-ng-elevated-to-cabinet-in-trudeau-shuffle/">rookie MP Mary Ng.</a></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228504/original/file-20180719-142408-zjo9on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melanie Joly, demoted to Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, speaks with Jim Carr, now Minister of International Trade Diversification, at Rideau Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
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<p>Second, in the first few years of Trudeau’s mandate, he had the benefit of several sympathetic provincial governments from whom he could hope to receive cooperation. There were Liberal governments in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Even the NDP government of Alberta and the Conservative government of Manitoba could be expected to be helpful with some issues. </p>
<p>The traditional battles between Ottawa and the provinces over funding and taxation did not go away, but the hostility was muted.</p>
<p>Now, however, with the election of Doug Ford’s Conservatives in Ontario and John Horgan’s NDP government in B.C., disagreements over pipelines, climate change and refugee settlement are looming large.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ford-nation-rises-again-what-doug-ford-means-for-ontario-97985">Ford Nation rises again: What Doug Ford means for Ontario</a>
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</p>
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<p>It’s possible that the formation of a united Conservative party in Alberta could lead to a change of government there in the next provincial election. And there have also been suggestions that the Quebec Liberals are not secure.</p>
<h2>Hostile provinces?</h2>
<p>The prime minister, therefore, could soon be facing unsympathetic governments in a majority of provinces. <a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/4338202/dominic-leblanc-changes-portfolios-named-minister-of-intergovernmental-northern-affairs-and-internal-trade">The appointment of Dominic Leblanc</a> — an experienced, tough-minded but persuasive MP — as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs is intended to make federal-provincial relations more manageable in the new climate.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228505/original/file-20180719-142414-1i21jqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dominic LeBlanc arrives at a swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Third, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-withdraws-support-for-resettlement-of-asylum-seekers-who/">migrants entering Canada at irregular crossing points</a> has strained the resources of the Ministry of Immigration. Additionally, a spike in <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-s-police-board-wants-more-security-cameras-new-technology-to-help-curb-gun-crime-1.4019962">gang-related gun crime in Toronto</a> has raised public concerns.</p>
<p>The creation of a new portfolio called Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeaus-new-cabinet-bill-blairs-big-promotion/">under the direction of former Toronto police chief Bill Blair</a>, is intended to signal an understanding of voters’ concerns about border security and gang violence.</p>
<p>Fourth, as the government moves to ensure completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/graham-thomson-edmonton-mp-amarjeet-sohi-now-in-charge-of-getting-trans-mountain-pipeline-project-built">Trudeau has appointed Edmonton MP Amarjeet Sohi as Natural Resources Minister</a> and Vancouver MP <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/north-vancouver-mp-jonathan-wilkinson-named-federal-minister-of-fisheries-oceans-and-coast-guard">Jonathan Wilkinson as Fisheries Minister</a>. They can be expected to lead the fight to overcome opposition in B.C. to the pipeline’s completion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228506/original/file-20180719-142426-5hqp64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Amarjeet Sohi stands with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Julie Payette after being sworn in as Minister of Natural Resources at Rideau Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s probably fair to say that if trade is diversified without abandoning the American market, if border security is strengthened without abandoning a commitment to refugees, if federal-provincial relations lead to more federal wins than losses, and if the Trans Mountain pipeline is completed without a serious oil spill, the prime minister will feel his decisions were sound. </p>
<p>That’s assuming, however, that no fires break out in Foreign Affairs, Finance or Justice — never guaranteed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Drummond has received funding from SSHRC. He is currently a member of the NDP.</span></em></p>With a federal election next year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shuffled his cabinet. What do the new faces in new jobs tell us about where the government feels it could be challenged?Robert Drummond, University Professor Emeritus, Politics and Public Policy/Administration, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.