TRUDEAU: ''WIDE RANGE OF FACTORS'' WENT INTO CABINET SHUFFLE
Feb 15, 2019
By Bob Komsic
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Since the allegations first surfaced, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied Jody Wilson-Raybould was pressured to help SNC Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution.
(Canadian Press)
Trudeau nows says Wilson-Raybould, who resigned as justice minister and attorney-general this week, asked him if he was going to offer her direction on the matter.
”There were many discussions going on, which is why Jody Wilson-Raybould asked me if I was directing her or going to direct her to take a particular decision (on SNC Lavalin) and I of course said no, that it was her decision to make and I expected her to make it,” the prime minister explained.
Trudeau also says the recent cabinet shuffle, which saw Wilson-Raybould moved to Veterans Affairs, was the result of former Treasury Board president Scott Brison’s sudden resignation.
”If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general,” Trudeau maintains.
As for whether the SNC Lavalin affair played a role in reassigning Wilson-Raybould, the prime minister said anytime there’s a cabinet shuffle ”a wide range of factors … go into making that decision.”
And when asked if she might have interpreted his comments as undue pressure, Trudeau reiterated it was her responsibility to say something.