, 02.17.2019 12:05 PM

#LavScam and Norman-gate: the scandal twins



Donato has captured something I’ve been saying for a while: #LavScam and the Vice-Admiral Norman mess involve identical facts:

  • PCO/PMO interfering with criminal prosecutions
  • the same PMO wrongdoers in both cases
  • obstruction of justice

#LavScam has captured most of the media attention, so not as many people noticed when the presiding judge in the Norman case stated in open court that there appeared to be collusion between PMO/PCO and the prosecution. See here.

If that’s true, Donato’s cartoon is pretty accurate.

And, if that’s true, we’re talking about multiple criminal acts – involving the same people.

20 Comments

  1. Stephen Sinclair says:

    I have no doubt that the PMO & others have been playing quite loose with the rules & the laws. They have believed from day 1 that they were omnipotent. Butts, Telford & a few others need to go. I believe that the shine is off Trudeau and election 2019 will NOT go well for him.

  2. merrill smith says:

    Maybe that’s the link between Brison leaving and JWR being shuffled.

  3. Stephen Wood says:

    It is one thing to throw a fellow politician under the buss…you have to know getting into politics it is a bloodsport….BUT to subject a member of our armed forces to a criminal prosecution for pure political calculation or to cover for Mr Brison? that goes too far….that is so cold and cruel and cavalier with the lives of others…..I don’t see how even the most passionate of partisans could stand for this…

  4. Pat B. says:

    Get them jail cells ready…

    “Operation Car Wash is the largest corruption scandal in the history of Latin America. At least eleven other countries, mostly in Latin America, were involved, and the Brazilian company, Odebrecht, was deeply implicated. The corruption scandal grew in part because it challenged the impunity of politicians and business leaders that had prevailed until then. Structural corruption in the political and economic system, no longer tolerated or accepted, was now being investigated and resulted in some criminal charges. This change was made possible because of the independence of the judiciary. Judge Sergio Moro’s Operation Car Wash investigation indicted seemingly untouchable politicians, including the former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. It succeeded because of ‘rewarded collaboration’ and the strategy of first targeting businesspeople, then using their statements against politicians.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash

  5. Karl-Milton Marx-Friedman says:

    Emphasis on “alleged.” Of course, they are guilty because we are all guilty of thinking in analogies. If X, then Y therefore If x, then y? small cap x is totally different from large cap X. Analogies do not have predictive power.

    We are allowing American lines of argument to leech into our politics, our own narratives. I just wonder if the “obstruction of justice” argument is more about Mueller than anything Northside. Canadians are too smart to follow a boring / full blown investigation that dominates the news cycle and ends up being a mixed (partisan) bag…

    Applying pressure does not equal obstruction.

    • whyshouldIsellyourwheat says:

      The constructive dismissal of the Attorney General through pressure and harassment because she would not interfere with the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions whose replacement will interfere with said decision is obstruction of justice.

      The PMO and PCO participating in legal strategy sessions with the prosecution and obstructing disclosure of documents is obstruction of justice.

      • Karl-Milton Marx-Friedman says:

        Just have to wonder about these armchair claims like:
        – JWR experienced constructive dismissal (you mean after she was demoted and then resigned for maximum effect?)…
        – PMO involvement in prosecution, blah blah, blah well the law needs to be changed then…oh right, DPA was installed for this purpose.
        – 2 cases of obstruction of justice (need proof, also what happens if there IS obstruction of justice? this is not the US, no impeachment eh?
        – The DPA was developed under Harper, implemented under the Liberals, and by it’s very nature is a throbbing source of pressure as a remedy for a sticky situation with SNC Lavalin.

        • Vancouverois says:

          But a DPA is *not* a possible remedy for the SNC-Lavalin situation: the company does not qualify for one under the legislation, even if the AG/Minister of Justice were inclined to grant one. That simply would not be possible under the current law.

    • Bruce Marcille says:

      Yes, it is detailed in the law and precedent. Pressure on the AG is precisely what the law forbids, otherwise we are a banana republic.

      • Karl-Milton Marx-Friedman says:

        Reports of our status of a Banana Republic because of 2 cares is just slightly over stated, just a bit. Google: “Corruption Perception Index”.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      K-M M-F,

      When they orchestrated a preordained result in the Justice Committee, they cut their own throats. Would you do that for merely having applied so-called pressure? I don’t think so.

      They want this shut down before it begins. That means the red meat is there and they know it can take them down. Period.

      They had better pray hard that the Senate gives this a pass otherwise they are royally screwed six ways from Sunday.

    • Fred from BC says:

      “Applying pressure does not equal obstruction”

      No, but applying pressure followed by firing the person for non-compliance does.

      • Karl-Milton Marx-Friedman says:

        Yes, however, you cannot prove there is 1 single cause for the demotion. That’s the Prime Minister’s discretion. It could be HALITOSIS related.

        Demotion by the way, not firing. Talk about not being a team player.

        And we have to ask: Is this all worth it, JWR? that’s the question we need to be asking.

        Learn about HER SHOCKING next step***

        ***Is it possible that JWR wants to trigger a Gillard contra-Rudd scenario? Her father has said as much today:
        2019: https://youtu.be/Xie3UD7okc4?t=318 Dad:”she would be an ideal candidate”
        1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhPnnLK6Znc the perfect opening to her leadership convention speech.

        • Fred from BC says:

          “Yes, however, you cannot prove there is 1 single cause for the demotion. That’s the Prime Minister’s discretion. ”

          That’s true. I’m making the assumption that she was demoted for the SNC stuff (based on prevailing opinion here), but my own opinion has always been that she was just not competent enough to be Justice Minister (and a lot of lawyers and judges agree with me, apparently).

        • Vancouverois says:

          It wasn’t because of halitosis.

          It’s just amazing to me how some extreme political partisans never stop trying to spin, even when what’s going on is so obvious that it makes them look ridiculous even to try.

  6. Jack A. says:

    We know every MP was hand-picked by Team Trudeau* i.e. the Liberal Party is anti-democratic. We know there is no separation between the executive and legislative branches – in the unlikely event any of these hand-picked sycophants dared vote against the party line, they would quickly fade away. Now the public is told there is no separation between the executive and legal branches e.g. “The attorney-general is entirely bypassed. The Prime Minister’s Office, via its right arm the PCO, is dealing directly with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.” Sycophant Iqra Khalid scolded the Justice Committee saying “in camera discussions are very normal”, that seeking a robust investigation “amounts to bullying”, and denounced “the hay that is being created out of nothing”. All in all a strange variant of fascism – Manson girls meet “basic dictatorship”. If the fix is in, let us assert our revolutionary right and sweep away this wicked regime.

    *“the Leader may decide that a Nomination Meeting shall not be held in an Electoral District and may designate a person who will be the Candidate for an Electoral District in any election. The Chair of the Green Light Committee may, in their sole and unfettered discretion and acting in the best interests of the Party, recommend the approval or rejection of any Potential Nomination Contestant.” – National Rules for the Selection of Candidates.

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