OTTAWA — Conservatives accused Liberals of a different sort of SNC-Lavalin cover-up in question period Tuesday after a report revealed the names of employees involved in the Montreal firm’s illegal attempts to influence Canadian politics between 2004 and 2011.
A CBC investigation revealed new details about the scheme and listed for the first time individuals accused of indirectly funnelling almost $110,000 of the company’s money to the Liberal Party, and another $8,000 to the Conservative Party. The parties became aware of the lists during a 2016 investigation by the Commissioner of Canada Elections.
On his way into cabinet on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his party has “moved forward on transparency and openness and that is not what happens anymore.”
During question period, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer accused him of a lack of transparency for sitting on the information for three years. “It took investigative reporting to uncover it,” he said. “Why did the prime minister’s recent election financing changes not take action to expose this cover-up?”
Trudeau responded: “These improper donations to two political parties were made over a decade ago. Under my leadership, we have raised the bar on openness and transparency.”
The Montreal construction giant has become a dicey subject for Liberals after several months of controversy. Trudeau’s former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould accused him and other top officials of trying to politically interfere in Canada’s judicial system by pressuring her to help SNC-Lavalin avoid an entirely different criminal prosecution, on fraud and bribery charges for dealings in Libya.
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