[stewie]

Wilson-Raybould says she'll provide more evidence — including texts and emails — on SNC-Lavalin affair

The former attorney general will provide a written statement to the committee, including further information to back up her testimony such as texts and emails
OTTAWA — Liberal MPs on the House of Commons justice committee may have shut down further hearings on the SNC-Lavalin affair, but Jody Wilson-Raybould has still found a way to provide more evidence.

In a letter to committee chair Anthony Housefather, Wilson-Raybould says she will provide a written statement to the committee that will include more information supporting her testimony, including texts and emails.


The letter, dated March 21, notes that because the committee has concluded its study, she understands she will “not be re-called as a witness to complete my testimony or to respond orally to statements that were made by witnesses after I testified.”

Wilson-Raybould testified at the committee on Feb. 27, after the Globe and Mail reported allegations that while attorney general she had been inappropriately pressured to intervene in the criminal prosecution of Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. Other key witnesses testified after her, however, including Gerald Butts, who recently resigned as principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Michael Wernick, who recently announced his early retirement as Privy Council Clerk. Wernick had first testified before Wilson-Raybould’s appearance, but was asked to appear a second time.

“In the course of my testimony there was a request for me to provide further information,” says Wilson-Raybould’s letter. It specifically cites the request for “copies of text messages and emails” related to her testimony.

“Related to these requests, I also have relevant facts and evidence in my possession that further clarify statements I made and elucidate the accuracy and nature of statements by witnesses in testimony that came after my Committee appearance.”


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However, the letter also says her submission to the committee will stay “within the confines” of the waiver of privilege Trudeau provided in February. That means it will not address any events that happened after she was informed in January she was being removed as justice minister and attorney general as part of a cabinet shuffle. Wilson-Raybould has said she will not discuss those events unless she gets a further waiver of privilege from Trudeau.

On Thursday, Maclean’s published an interview with former Treasury Board President Jane Philpott, who resigned from cabinet over the government’s handling of the affair, in which she said there is still “much more to the story that should be told.”

“I believe the former attorney general has further points to make,” Philpott said in the interview. “I believe that I have further issues of concern that I’m not free to share … I believe we actually owe it to Canadians as politicians to ensure that they have the truth. They need to have confidence in the very basic constitutional principle of the independence of the justice system.”

Curious to see where this goes and how it unfolds.

So there's things she's not allowed to say without Trudeau's consent to a waiver of privilege but what if she says F it and says it all anyways? What's the worst that can happen to her?