
I want to talk more about Anne McLellan’s report, which the Prime Minister’s Office released last week on the same day Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion released his own report into the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Of course Dion’s report received almost all the attention: it finds Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke the Conflict of Interest Act. (Trudeau has repeatedly been called the first prime minister in history to break the Act twice. This is less spectacular when we remember he’s only the second to whom it applies: it became law in 2006.)
McLellan’s report is dry by comparison, as it deals with whether to separate the functions of Minister of Justice and Attorney General. The first function is pretty ordinary, the second is central to the administration of criminal justice and has responsibilities and protections to match. Surely, Trudeau implied by contracting McLellan in March, some people were innocently confused about the distinction, and treated Jody Wilson-Raybould as an ordinary cabinet colleague, and separating the two roles might help avert such misunderstandings in the future.
McLellan was a key minister in the governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, in several portfolios including as minister of justice and attorney general under Chrétien, and has racked up impressive titles since leaving politics. But she’s not widely viewed as a rebel or a provider of surprising answers to leading questions. I thought she would deliver the answer Trudeau seemed to be expecting: that yes indeed, it’s really confusing to have the justice minister and the AG be the same person, and the roles should be separated forthwith.
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See Also:
(1) Libs Panicking About Possible RCMP Investigation?
(3) A handgun ban? Don’t hold your breath
(5) If you’re a Hong Kong protestor, Canada sure isn’t ‘back’