Attorney General David Lametti, SNC-Lavalin, McGill University & $200M Kickback

(then Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for ISED, David Lametti, met with SNC Lavalin President Neil Bruce)

(McGill University Law Professor, David Lametti, Who is on leave while he sits as the Attorney General of Canada)

(February 13, 2019, McGill University is “gifted” $200M)

(The $200M gift to McGill came from John McCall MacBain, European Climate Foundation founder, and Chairman of the Board of the Trudeau Foundation).

1. Important Links

(1) https://canucklaw.ca/canadas-bill-c-74-deferred-prosecution-agreementand-oecd-anti-bribery-agreementand-oecd-anti-bribery-agreement/
(2) https://canucklaw.ca/who-is-snc-lavalin-really-connected-to/

(3) https://www.mcgill.ca/law/about/profs/lametti-david
(4) https://www.cba.org/News-Media/Press-Releases/2019/David-Lametti,-Canada’s-new-Minister-of-Justice-an
(5) https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/single-largest-gift-canadian-history-create-flagship-graduate-scholarship-program-mcgill-university-294528
(6) https://globalnews.ca/news/5013229/david-lametti-snc-lavalin-affair-jody-wilson-raybould/?fbclid=IwAR0nVd2C-1hznMt18rqLUhk4O3psog4v6f6IIIFT2scp_Cg6yyTd4HP-MKI
(7) https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilson-raybould-justice-veterans-1.4977782
(8) https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/02/12/jody-wilson-raybould-resigns_a_23667810/

(9) http://www.fondationtrudeau.ca/en/activities/news/john-mccall-macbain-receives-uottawa-honorary-doctorate
(10) http://www.mccallmacbain.org/
(11) https://europeanclimate.org/
(12) https://www.eastonspectator.com/2019/04/03/mccall-macbain-928000-gift-to-trudeau-family-represents-single-largest-bribery-scandal-in-canadian-history/

2. Timeline of SNC-Lavalin Events

• May 30, 2017, SNC-Lavalin lobbies David Lametti
• January 14, 2019, Jody Wilson Raybould removed as Attorney General
• January 14, 2019, David Lametti becomes Attorney General
• February 9, 2019, Lametti sees nothing wrong with SNC-Lavalin getting the deferred prosecution, to allow it to keep accepting Canadian Government contracts
• February 12, 2019, JWR resigns from Cabinet altogether
• February 13, 2019, McGill is gifted $200 million
• March 3, 2019, Lametti says no decision (SNC implied) is ever final and can always be reviewed

The implication is obvious here. Jody Wilson Raybould wasn’t willing to grant a deferred prosecution agreement to SNC-Lavalin. This would have allowed the company to still be granted Canadian contracts. So she was replaced by someone more “willing”.

Note: See the first link for more information on the DPA, or deferred prosecution agreement. This was created by an amendment to bill C-74.

3. Lametti Whitewashed Interference Scandal

“Interference is perhaps the wrong word in that it implies something illegal is going on,” he said.

Lametti, who became attorney general after Wilson-Raybould was removed from the post six weeks ago, acknowledged in the same interview he had not known when he took over the role and got briefed on the matters facing him that she had already made the decision not to offer a remediation agreement.

Such a deal would have allowed SNC-Lavalin to admit wrongdoing and pay a fine, but avoid the ban on bidding for government contracts that comes with a conviction for the corruption and fraud charges it currently faces.

“You do have an ongoing obligation as attorney general in terms of your relationship to prosecutions and the prosecution service to be open to new facts,” he said. “I can’t speak to the actual facts [of the SNC-Lavalin affair] but I know that in principle, an attorney general has to remain open so, in that sense, no decision is ever final.”

(Source is here.)

No interference. No pressure. Everything is just a point of view. The new Attorney General shrugs off very serious accusations of attempting to interfere with criminal prosecutions.

4. John McCall MacBain Directly Connected To McGill U

Taking a quick look at the McCall MacBain page, for “our people”, we quickly spot two items:

John McCall MacBain not only has an undergraduate degree in economics from McGill, but he chairs the International Advisory Board as well.

Although McGill is a decent sized university, the obvious question must be asked: Does John McCall MacBain know David Lametti personally?

5. Connections To Trudeau Foundation

(Jacques Bougie, Member of the Governance and Ethics Committee for SNC Lavalin, also is part of the Trudeau Foundation)

From the National Post article, of December 12, 2016:

Last Monday, interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose wrote to the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner and to the lobbying commissioner, asking them to investigate Liberal fundraising practices — and in particular, whether people might be using donations to the charitable Trudeau Foundation to gain influence with the government.

“Given that Prime Minister Trudeau is a former member of the Trudeau Foundation,” she wrote, “that his brother Alexandre Trudeau is a current member of the board of directors of the foundation, that the Minister of Industry appoints two directors of the Trudeau Foundation, and that the Foundation has two representatives of the Trudeau family, any efforts by Mr. Trudeau to use his position as Prime Minister to encourage donations may be a violation of the definition of a conflict of interest.”

A National Post analysis of the Trudeau Foundation’s public disclosures has found that gifts to the foundation have increased significantly since Justin Trudeau’s April 2013 election as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. The amount of money contributed to the foundation by foreign donors has grown each year since Trudeau claimed the party’s leadership. Moreover, a significant proportion of the charity’s donors, directors and members have ties to companies and organizations that are actively lobbying the federal government.

Whether or not the foundation violates conflict-of-interest laws, its operations represent another challenge to the high ethical standard Trudeau has established for his government. The Open and Accountable Government guide, codified after Trudeau became prime minister in October 2015, specifies that when fundraising or dealing with lobbyists, “Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest.”

Would the Trudeau Government try to do an end run around Jody Wilson-Raybould’s refusal to grant SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement? Would replacing her with the more “easily swayed” David Lametti work? Was the “gift” to McGill University 4 days after the announcement really just a form of payment?

It seems on the surface a conspiracy theory. However, given all the things the Trudeau Foundation has been involved with, it’s no much of a stretch.

It wasn’t the Canadian Government that gave McGill University the $200 million. Instead, it was a member of the Trudeau Foundation, who has been illegally lobbying Justin Trudeau.

That hardly makes it better.

Also when searching, out came this little gem here:

This is Philippe Couillard, the former Premier of Quebec. He has some very interesting connections:

• Member of Privy Council
• Teaching health care governance at McGill University
• Long time Liberal
• Member of Trudeau Foundation

But hey, it’s probably all unrelated.

6. Not Likely To Be Prosecuted

Bribery of judicial officers, etc.
.
119 (1) Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years who
(a) being the holder of a judicial office, or being a member of Parliament or of the legislature of a province, directly or indirectly, corruptly accepts, obtains, agrees to accept or attempts to obtain, for themselves or another person, any money, valuable consideration, office, place or employment in respect of anything done or omitted or to be done or omitted by them in their official capacity, or
(b) directly or indirectly, corruptly gives or offers to a person mentioned in paragraph (a), or to anyone for the benefit of that person, any money, valuable consideration, office, place or employment in respect of anything done or omitted or to be done or omitted by that person in their official capacity.
Marginal note: Consent of Attorney General(2) No proceedings against a person who holds a judicial office shall be instituted under this section without the consent in writing of the Attorney General of Canada.

Considering that the sitting Attorney General is a full fledged PARTICIPANT in this corruption, it is extremely unlikely he will agree to a prosecution.

This reeks of corruption, unfortunately, it’s kind of a rigged game.

Theoretically, Lametti could be removed, and a new Attorney General could open up a case. That is also unlikely, since Trudeau would have to do it. Perhaps his successor will.

7. Is This Flat Out Corruption?

Consider the facts:

1. SNC-Lavalin has at least two lobbyists: (a) Bruce Hartley; and (b) William Pristanski, who have been actively lobbying on SNC’s behalf in order to get a DPA for its criminal activity
2. David Lametti has previously been lobbied at least once by SNC-Lavalin.
3. Jody Wilson Raybould opposed allowing SNC-Lavalin access to a DPA (deferred prosecution agreement), as she felt it was inappropriate.
4. JWR is replaced by David Lametti, a law professor from McGill University, currently on leave.
5. 4 days after announcing that Lavalin will be reconsidered for the DPA, McGill receives a $200M “gift” from John McCall MacBain.
6. John McCall MacBain sits on the Trudeau Foundation, as does Jacques Bougie (also on the Board of Directors for SNC-Lavalin).
7. McCall MacBain has also been investigated for illegal donations to Justin Trudeau.

Perhaps I’m missing something, but it looks pretty corrupt to me.