Good morning,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking advice. The trouble is his top adviser isn’t around any more.
So, Mr. Trudeau spent much of Tuesday hunkered down in the PMO with Canada’s ambassador to the United States, David MacNaughton. Mr. MacNaughton, of course, is no stranger to the role. He’s an experienced political hand and he chaired the Liberal election campaign in 2015.
But he’s not Gerald Butts – a man Mr. Trudeau has known since their university days at McGill and who played a central role in crafting the Prime Minister’s political messaging and his PMO.
Mr. Trudeau’s communications director, Cameron Ahmad, said there has been a “firewall” between the Prime Minister’s Office and the former top lieutenant since he resigned as principal secretary last month, 11 days after The Globe first reported that the PMO had exerted pressure on former attorney-general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to help SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. avoid a criminal trial on corruption charges.
Two high-profile ministers – Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Treasury Board president Jane Philpott – have resigned from cabinet since. On Monday, Ms. Philpott cited “serious concerns” about the government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair after testimony last week by Ms. Wilson-Raybould before a Parliamentary justice committee.
On Wednesday morning (beginning at 10 a.m. ET), Mr. Butts steps into that same spotlight. In a highly anticipated appearance, he’s expected to attempt to counter Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s assertion that she experienced “consistent and sustained” political pressure from Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Butts himself and other top officials.
On Wednesday afternoon, Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick will field questions from the committee for a second time. Nathalie Drouin, deputy minister of justice and attorney-general, will also appear.
Follow live coverage at globeandmail.com.
As for what Mr. Trudeau is thinking right now, a senior government official says that the Prime Minister realizes that he needs to acknowledge that he could have handled things differently.
How is the Liberal caucus feeling about all of this? So far, MPs are standing by Mr. Trudeau. Out of 179 Liberal MPs, more than 50 replied to The Globe’s questions on Tuesday and expressed support for the Prime Minister. Some MPs also offered their thoughts on Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s and Ms. Philpott’s continued membership in caucus, saying they are valued and respected colleagues. No one called for them to leave caucus.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Canada should move in the direction of national pharmacare by creating a new drug agency and a master list of prescription medications that would be available to all, regardless of ability to pay, according to a federal advisory council.
The head of SNC-Lavalin told the Canadian government it had to change its anti-corruption rules “as expeditiously as possible” in a 2017 letter to the minister in charge of procurement.
Former OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair says his termination this week is reprisal for his legal battle over the hiring of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s friend as the next provincial police commissioner.
China has halted canola imports from Winnipeg’s Richardson International Ltd. amid widening trade and diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney says he’s still recovering from his 80th birthday bash, which took place in Florida over the weekend.
North Korea is restoring facilities at a long-range rocket launch site following a high-stakes nuclear summit last week between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump that ended without any agreement.
Elizabeth Renzetti (The Globe and Mail) on Justin Trudeau and women in politics: “Mr. Trudeau has repeatedly talked about what he calls "the challenge of retention” – that is, not just recruiting women into politics, but keeping them there. Clearly, the old ways are not working. ”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on what Mr. Trudeau is doing wrong: “Jane Philpott’s resignation should have sent an unmistakable message to the Prime Minister: that his handling of this matter has fallen far short of what is necessary to quell the storm. But he really hasn’t grasped the seriousness of it at all. Instead, he’s tried to smile his way through it, as if pretending everything is okay will make it so.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Mr. Trudeau’s path forward: “An apology won’t do it. Maybe that Monday night assertion that he is taking concerns seriously is a hint that he will admit he made mistakes, or that he should have listened more, but it will have to come on top of a more serious accounting.”
Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on Mr. Trudeau’s failure to learn from history: “Justin Trudeau’s team initially showed signs of a new morality, but then began acting like the others. It centralized power. It curbed access to information. It left itself open to charges of judicial interference, to which it has responded with ineptitude.”
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on the SNC-Lavalin affair: “Mr. Trudeau must respond, and he must offer an answer that is as detailed and comprehensive as the allegations. He has to tell us exactly what happened and why he and his government did what they did.”
The New York Times Editorial Board on the SNC-Lavalin affair: “Looked at from south of the Canadian border, the entire matter may seem trivial alongside any of the many accusations levied at President Trump, or of the pressures routinely applied by politicians on behalf of powerful companies. But in Canada, the tangled SNC-Lavalin affair is unavoidably measured against the expectations Mr. Trudeau raised and the standards he set. For him to be accused by two prominent women from his team of violating the high ethical bar he himself set is a major blow, at the least to his brand.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on the decision not to grant SNC-Lavalin a DPA: “Unless [Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel] is required to elaborate on her reasons for refusing to negotiate a remediation agreement, we cannot know what specific factors swayed her decision.”
Alok Mukherjee (The Globe and Mail) on the firing of OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair: “... we have a situation that threatens to compromise the integrity of the public service as well as the independence of the provincial police force.”
Christie Blatchford (National Post) on the Brad Blair firing: “The problem is that the firing looks dirty – political, punitive and small — because everything about the Blair story thus far has been dirty in the same way.”
Barrie McKenna (The Globe and Mail) on China’s move to halt Richardson canola imports: “For China, dubious trade restrictions, unfounded travel alerts and arbitrary detentions are all apparently fair game in the pursuit of broader geopolitical and economic goals. No matter how ludicrous.”
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