: Glenn Hicks

By Glenn Hicks

SNC-Lavalin scandal

Local MP says Trudeau has tarnished Canada’s reputation

Feb 28, 2019 | 6:54 PM

Prince Albert MP, Conservative Randy Hoback, says Canada is “not a banana republic” but the scathing testimony from Jody Wilson-Raybould has helped tarnish the reputation of the nation.

He’s echoing Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer’s call for Justin Trudeau to resign and for an RCMP investigation based on the potential that leading government officials may have obstructed justice.

…this Prime Minister thinks he’s above the law and thinks it is okay to call a judge and get his friend off _{– Randy Hoback.}

Hoback said he watched Wilson-Raybould’s appearance at the justice committee hearing Wednesday and said “his jaw dropped” when he heard the former Attorney General and Justice Minister’s explosive remarks that nearly a dozen people inappropriately pushed her to halt a criminal prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.

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“The reality is if there’s a criminal investigation, which I suspect, this is fatal for the Prime Minister,” Hoback told paNOW. “We are not a banana republic, the judicial system is something we brag about around the world and all of a sudden this Prime Minister thinks he’s above the law and thinks it is okay to call a judge and get his friend off. You and I could never do that.”

Hoback referred to comments made by Trudeau after the arrest in Canada of the executive from Chinese tech company Huawei as an indication of the Prime Minister’s lack of ethics.

“The Chinese government wanted the executive (Meng Wanzhou) released and the Prime Minister was bragging there would be no political interference in our legal system, and [yet] the testimony we heard [from Wilson-Raybould] proved that wrong.”

The Prime Minister insisted his staff had behaved appropriately in discussions with Wilson-Raybould and her office about the SNC-Lavalin affair but there has been widespread condemnation from political pundits who figure some senior heads will roll. While commentators figure Trudeau has been damaged by this scandal it is not clear how this may affect his chances come October’s general election. Responding to calls for his resignation the Prime Minister said the voters would determine that.

Andrew Scheer will be the next PM of Canada _{– Randy Hoback}

It’s not yet clear how much this will bolster the election hopes of the Conservatives. paNOW asked Hoback what would be the future of party leader Andrew Scheer if he were unable to topple Trudeau in October.

“We’ll see what happens, but I think we’ll see Andrew Scheer as the next Prime Minister of Canada,” Hoback said.” I think Canadians have been clear in the polls and they’re starting to realize the person they put in power sold them a bag of goods and delivered them nothing.”

–

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow