OTTAWA -- Federal Attorney General and Justice Minister David Lametti says the agreement between the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and SNC-Lavalin鈥檚 legal counsel to have the Quebec-based construction firm plead guilty to a single count of fraud over $5,000 and pay a $280-million fine was 鈥渕ade independently.鈥�
In a statement responding to the development in the case that was at the centre of a months-long scandal for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 government and his predecessor Jody Wilson-Raybould, Lametti said the decision was reached as part of the Director of Public Prosecution鈥檚 office鈥檚 鈥渞esponsibility to continually assess and determine the appropriate path for cases under their jurisdiction.鈥�
Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general and justice minister, and that 鈥渁ccountability was achieved.鈥�
The now Independent MP who quit Trudeau鈥檚 cabinet and was then removed from the Liberal caucus earlier this year during the months-long affair had testified and presented various oral, written, and audio submissions in an effort to back up her allegations that she was improperly pressured by Trudeau officials to make a deal in the corruption and fraud case against SNC-Lavalin to ensure it could continue bidding on government contracts.
鈥淚 have long believed in the essential necessity of our judicial system operating as it should鈥攂ased on the rule of law and prosecutorial independence, and without political interference or pressure,鈥� Wilson-Raybould said Wednesday.
鈥淯ltimately, that system was able to do its work鈥攁s democracy and good governance requires鈥攁nd an outcome was reached today. Accountability was achieved.鈥�
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Trudeau said that his government 鈥渃ould have, should have, would have鈥� done things differently 鈥渉ad we known all sorts of different aspects,鈥� of the political and legal saga.
Wilson-Raybould said that 2019 began with questions about the rule of law in Canada, and that she is 鈥済lad to see it end with that principle being upheld.鈥�
鈥淚t is time to move forward,鈥� she said.
Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel thanked her prosecutorial team 鈥渇or their dedicated work on this very challenging case, in the face of unprecedented public attention.鈥�
The justice minister said he was informed by Roussel about the agreement to resolve the criminal proceedings against SNC-Lavalin on Tuesday, and that 鈥淐anadians can have confidence that our judicial and legal systems are working as they should.鈥� Throughout the scandal Trudeau asserted that he and his staff did not act inappropriately, though this summer the federal ethics commissioner found that in pursuit of influencing Wilson-Raybould.
Lametti was appointed as Wilson-Raybould鈥檚 replacement in January and has since faced questions about whether or not he would be seeking what鈥檚 called a deferred prosecution or remediation agreement to see the firm avoid criminal prosecution and in turn, avoid the risk of job losses as the result of what could have been a 10-year ban on federal contracts.
The construction division of the company will have five years to pay the fine and will be on probation for three years. In return, prosecutors will withdraw other corruption-related charges against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and its international marketing arm, SNC-Lavalin International Inc. related to work the company did in Libya between 2001 and 2011.
Throughout the affair Trudeau cited a desire to protect the jobs of SNC-Lavalin employees, pensioners, and others who would be negatively impacted by contracts drying up.
"This process unfolded in an independent way and we got to an outcome that seems positive for everyone involved, particularly for the workers," Trudeau told The Canadian Press.
In a statement, SNC-Lavalin President and Chief Executive Officer, Ian L. Edwards, called the development in the case a 鈥済ame-changer鈥� and apologized for the past misconduct.
The company says that the settlement 鈥渕itigates uncertainty鈥� and 鈥渄oes not anticipate that the guilty plea by a construction subsidiary... will affect the eligibility of SNC-Lavalin Group companies to bid on future projects."
Conservative justice critic Rob Moore said that despite this outcome, 鈥淭rudeau needs to answer for his role in the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal.鈥�
Similarly, NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said that while the court system worked the way it should independent of political interferences, 鈥渢his is not over with the prime minister.鈥�
鈥淭he one thing about court cases is they are about establishing precedence, so this sends a message to corporate Canada that international corruption and bribery will have consequences. Our prime minister doesn鈥檛 seem to think that there were consequences for him,鈥� Angus told CTVNews.ca in an interview.
鈥淎ttempting to interfere in the prosecution in this case is a very disturbing precedent that we still, I believe, the answers need to be given from this Prime Minister, and we haven't gotten those answers yet.鈥�
This development in the case comes on the same day that The Canadian Press announced it was naming Wilson-Raybould the newsmaker of the year, citing her central role in the SNC-Lavalin scandal and subsequent reelection as the only independent in this parliament as factors.
With files from 麻豆影视 Montreal
