You see the phrase ‘political performance’ a lot in this business. But the truth is, most politicians, even good ones, can’t perform worth a damn. They’re hams, most of them, by necessity. In politics, nuance doesn’t sell.
That’s what made what Marie Henein did Wednesday so remarkable. For more than 30 minutes, she performed in the truest sense. She put on a piece of political theatre — complete with shrugs, half smiles
In front of the assembled Ottawa press corps, Henein flayed the prime minister without ever mentioning his name. She never said the words “SNC-Lavalin,” either even as she linked her client’s case, indelibly, to that festering scandal.
Henein was speaking to reporters Wednesday after the charges against her client, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, were stayed in a surprise court appearance. The prosecutor told the court that, after reviewing new evidence, the Crown no longer felt it had a reasonable chance of obtaining a conviction in the case.
The decision was a massive win for Henein and her client. The politically-charged case against Norman — he was accused of leaking confidential material related to a ship building contract — had come to
The SNC-Lavalin affair has come to define the later part of Trudeau’s tenure in office. And on Wednesday, Henein kept the focus on Trudeau, and his brand, from the moment she sat down.
“Before we get started,” she began, “I’d just like to introduce the” — at this point she paused for half a beat and allowed herself the slightest smile — “all female team that represented Vice-Admiral Norman.” She delivered her next line in a stone-faced deadpan. “Fortunately Vice-Admiral Norman didn’t fire the females he hired.”
The reference to Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott could not have been clearer if it was
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See Also:
(1) Kinsella: Trudeau government trying to cover its tracks
(2) Trudeau was Teflon, now he’s Velcro
(3) New evidence that exonerated Mark Norman may date from Stephen Harper’s time as PM
(4) Five lingering questions from the end of Mark Norman’s criminal case
(5) What’s next for Vice-Admiral Mark Norman?
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