, 08.18.2019 06:39 AM

My latest: what #LavScam now means for Scheer, JWR, PMO, the RCMP and the media

Joseph Nye Welch: remember that name.

He was an American lawyer, and chief counsel to the US Army. He died long ago. But even from the grave, even after so many years have gone by, Welch has something to important to say about the sordid, seamy scandal known as LavScam.

The Ethics Commissioner had something to say, too, as it turned out. And this week, he said it: “The authority of the Prime Minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. [Jody] Wilson-Raybould as the Crown’s chief law officer.”

That sentence – and the commissioner’s finding that Justin Trudeau and his thugs did, indeed, conspire to stop the criminal prosecution of a Québec-based donor to his party, SNC-Lavalin – has myriad implications for many people. Here are just a few.

Andrew Scheer: When the LavScam story broke in the Globe and Mail, the Conservative Party leader was criticized by some in his own party for demanding Justin Trudeau’s resignation. It is clear, now, he was right to do so. It’s also equally clear that Scheer need not worry himself about Trudeau’s puerile threat to sue him for defamation. Truth, after all, is an absolute defence to a libel claim.

Jody Wilson-Raybould: Everything that the former Attorney-General said – and Trudeau petulantly refused to let her say all she had to say – was also true. All of it. She was, in fact, pressured by Trudeau and ten of his minions (including his Minister of Finance) to cut a sweetheart deal for SNC-Lavalin on 22 separate occasions over a four-month period. She spoke the truth. And, in so doing, Wilson-Raybould revealed more integrity and courage than Trudeau could ever hope to possess in ten lifetimes.

Trudeau’s Office: His most-powerful aide, Gerald Butts, resigned at the height of the LavScam scandal. At the time, it was unclear why. Not now. Butts should tender his resignation again – as should Katie Telford, Ben Chin, Mathieu Bouchard, Elder Marques and others in PMO. Bouchard and Marques, both lawyers, additionally deserve the scrutiny of the relevant law societies for their role in LavScam.

The Mounties: It is known that the RCMP seized Butts’ government-issue laptop and cell phone when he first resigned. It is also known that Butts, Telford and the others “lawyered up,” and retained counsel for an anticipated criminal probe. And then…nothing. While Scheer and others demanded a criminal investigation, the RCMP gave every indication they were having an extended, collective nap. The Ethics Commissioner’s extraordinary report will force them awake. Or should.

The Media: For various sycophantic media voices – most notably the Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt and HuffPo’s Althing Raj – the SNC-Lavalin affair has been a trifling matter, and Wilson-Raybould deserved to be exiled by Trudeau and his lackeys. The damning Ethic Commissioner’s report should oblige Delacourt, Raj and other Trudeau-flatterers to radically revise that assessment.

But what, one might ask, of Joseph Nye Welch? How is LavScam relevant to him, and vice-versa?

Watching Justin Trudeau simultaneously accept the Ethics Commissioner’s report – and then condemn it, all dewy-eyed sincerity – Welch might have said what he famously said to Joseph McCarthy, during the Democratic Senator’s hunt for communists and subversives.

“Until this moment, I think I have never really gauged your recklessness,” Welch might’ve said to Trudeau. “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Justin Trudeau, at long last, does not.

15 Comments

  1. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Nailed it.

    We will see very quickly if anyone who has been rabidly fronting for Trudeau still has a smidgen of journalistic cred left. My sense is No. I would send those people, along with CPC fronters, back to Journalism 101. They badly need a refresher.

    • J.H. says:

      Great summation by @howardanglin of ethics report & Trudeau’s guilt. Check it out.

    • Lorraine Rose Zerr says:

      Couldn’t agree with you more! The press, has fir a very long time been totally partisan. Our country is a mess thanks to the PMO and partisan reporters! Things are about to change…the PM is about to hang his head in shame and so he should!

  2. Doug says:

    The Liberals will win a slim majority. Gerald Butts is the only brain in federal politics and his master skills of manipulation will conquer.

    • Max says:

      The flip side of that is “we elect the government we deserve”. Those of us, including the MSM who have been smug about Trump need to look in the mirror. And do a ‘gut check’, Et tu Canada?

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Doug,

      How come The Brain lost to Sophie on India?

    • Zing says:

      Doug, they currently have a SLIM majority (of 7 by my count). So, no change/virtually no change at all in their standings after this election? Is there historical precedent for majority govts to maintain their standings 2nd time out? He was lucky to win that 2015 election — people wanted rid of Harper.

  3. Nick M. says:

    I can’t wait till he is gone. Keep up the good work on behalf of the country.

    I wish Chrétien was still running this country. Quite likely Canada’s favourite former PM.

    I stayed in Alberta because of his pipeline approval press conference. Where he approved Line 3 replacement, TransMountain, Energy East but said no to Northern Gateway. ( I was between jobs at the time, so this press conference really affected my decision)

    I made a decision on my future on this, only to find out Energy East was to be intentionally frustrated by his administration after this press conference. Only to find out his frustrations of TransMountain had resulted in Kinder Morgan to pulling the plug. which resulted in the state to purchase it… Bravo.

    He messes with people lives and then joyfully jokes that he doesn’t know what he can do to make Albertans happy. The easy answer is quit obstructing with peoples lives.

    I forget how some old school political strategist summed it up, but the metaphor was something like, “when your political opponent is down, step on his neck.”

    Keep up the political pressure, and perhaps the radical centrist, Mr Rogers replica will win the next election.

  4. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Chrystia has 100% confidence in Justin. Too bad she’s already lost that battle in the CBC comments. Surely CBC’s barometer is broken! LOL.

  5. Geoffrey Kent says:

    Thanks, Warren, for your analysis. Unfortunately, and you know this as well as I do, the CBC and the Toronto Star along with many other news outlets, will downplay any of this report and will continue to gush about their favourite son, Justin. But you are correct. He has no shame and no sense of decency. Let’s continue to pound that message because, frankly, it’s more important than anything else in the upcoming campaign. Ethics. You either have them or you don’t.

  6. Jason Gladney says:

    I currently reside in Nova Scotia.And I also we need to get ridto get rid of this low life.All we here that Justin is doing well in the Atlantic Provinces.That is false.The Provincal Libriles are not about Climate change.If they we’re, they wouldn’t have scraped the only Wind Tower plant on this side of Quebec.Funny thing.Or was it because it was an NOD adventure.They spent more money cleaning up the facility rather than trying to promote “Green Jobs.Thse liberal are Pathalogical Liars.Wake up Canada.

  7. He is the laughing stock of the world, and he must be taking
    taking out of that leadership roll for the good of all canadians.

  8. Franco says:

    Trudeau got in on Daddy’s name and the promise of marijuana – people got what they deserved a pompous, spoiled nit wit who is used to getting his way! How anyone can check off the liberal box on the ballot after Turdeau’s Embarrassing run as this country’s PM is beyond me. You could elect Crusty the Crown and get better representation!

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