Didn’t this PM promise a new, open way of doing politics? Dumping MPs who won’t bend to his will, effectively firing a cabinet minister who didn’t take the hint on a big file, shutting down the justice committee investigation of this travesty, and now waving a libel action around does not exactly conjure up sunny ways.

Having already claimed two star female federal cabinet ministers, the clerk of the privy council, and the PM’s principal secretary, it appears the next victim of LavScam could be Justin Trudeau himself. And all because one way or another, the PM seems determined to spare SNC-Lavalin a criminal conviction for its alleged bribery and corruption in Libya. Why?

This is why you can’t take on the federal government. They can create or ‘opt out’ of any law that they want to. You can’t.

The Liberals pushed back, arguing that at the start of this Parliament the Liberal caucus had decided to opt out of adopting this part of the law. Had they adopted it, MPs would be required to vote on whether or not a colleague should be booted from caucus. #cdnpoli #LavScam

In the audio recording of the Dec. 19 phone call that Wilson-Raybould
provided to the Justice Committee on Friday, Wernick warns
Wilson-Raybould of a potential “collision” with the prime minister over
her decision not to offer SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement
that would forestall its criminal prosecution on bribery and corruption
charges in exchange for the payment of a hefty fine.

Wilson-Raybould, who resigned from cabinet last month, tells Wernick
that “we are treading on dangerous ground here” and adds that “this is
going to look like political interference by the prime minister.”

In an analysis piece for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Newark said PSPC is working on a revision of its ‘integrity regime’ policy to give federal officials more discretion to waive bans of individual companies contracting with the federal government.

Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough has said her department is looking at eliminating fixed bidding disqualification periods and replacing them with a wholly discretionary determination — which would include the option of imposing no contracting ban at all.

Even under the current system, Newark said, an order cancelling a company’s federal contracts and banning it from future contracts following a conviction is far from a slam-dunk.

The Liberal majority on the committee voted down a motion backed by
Conservatives and New Democrats that would have seen former attorney
general Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board president Jane
Philpott testify about the controversy.

“The coverup continues,” Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said after the meeting ended.