Federal Liberals in B.C. respond to ethics commissioner's report
Credit to Author: Glenda Luymes| Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 23:14:02 +0000
A day after federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion released his report concluding the prime minister violated the Conflict of Interest Act in the SNC-Lavalin affair, most B.C. Liberal MPs avoided public comment, deferring to the prime minister and blaming their busy summer schedules.
On Thursday, Postmedia sought comment from 17 Liberal MPs in B.C. and received just three responses before deadline.
In a statement, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Jonathan Wilkinson said he acknowledged that the “way things took place regarding this issue should not have happened,” but disagreed with the conclusion that “all contact with the attorney-general on this issue was improper.”
“Having been a civil servant and an adviser at the provincial level and now a federal cabinet minister, I believe that we must be able to talk about the impacts on Canadians from decisions being made,” said the MP for North Vancouver. “At the end of the day, this was about the prime minister and the government standing up for people’s jobs and livelihoods — something which we will always do, while also upholding the rule of law.”
Wilkinson said there were “lessons learned” from the situation, and he looked forward to the implementation of several recommendations made by former Attorney-General Anne McLellan to ensure that governments “never face this type of situation again.”
Vancouver Quadra MP and Treasury Board president Joyce Murray was out of the country, but spokesperson Farees Nathoo said the minister has “full confidence in the prime minister,” pointing out that Trudeau accepted the commissioner’s report and took responsibility for events.
“On Jody Wilson-Raybould, the minister wishes her well,” said Nathoo.
Defence Minister and Vancouver South MP Harjit Sajjan was asked a question about the commissioner’s report after an announcement about UN peacekeeping on Thursday morning.
“The prime minister, when he became leader of the Liberal party, had one mission in mind, which is to grow the middle class, supporting those working hard to join it, and he has done just that,” Sajjan told reporters. “In terms of the report, the prime minister gave his statement and took questions (Wednesday) on this topic.”
Postmedia sent several questions to each MP, including whether or not Trudeau should apologize to the Canadian public and Wilson-Raybould.
Surrey-Newton MP Sukh Dhaliwal was out of the country. West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones was making an announcement on the Sunshine Coast. Several other MPs deferred to the prime minister’s comments, while others were not in their office, or busy with constituency work.
The bombshell report, release Wednesday by Canada’s ethics watchdog, concluded the prime minister violated the Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring then-attorney-general Wilson-Raybould to stop the criminal prosecution of Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.
“The prime minister, directly and through his senior officials, used various means to exert influence over Ms. Wilson-Raybould,” wrote the ethics commissioner. “The authority of the prime minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the director of public prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. Wilson-Raybould as the Crown’s chief law officer.”
On Thursday, Jane Philpott told the Canadian Press that Liberal MPs were put in a “very, very difficult” position by the party and political staff when forced to defend the actions of the Prime Minister’s Office. The former Liberal cabinet minister resigned her post in protest over the SNC-Lavalin affair, and like Wilson-Raybould is seeking re-election as an independent.
“I think that is something that should cause them all to think about whose direction they are following and they need to be following in the direction of their constituents,” she told the Canadian Press.
Philpott said Trudeau should apologize for violating the ethics code.
Trudeau has twice repeated his message that while he accepts both Dion’s report and full responsibility for what happened, he won’t be making an apology.
“I disagree with the ethics commissioner’s conclusions, but he is an officer of Parliament doing his job, and I fully accept his report — which means I take full responsibility,” Trudeau said Thursday at an event in Fredericton.
— with file from Canadian Press