Category: SNC Lavalin

Posted on

Meet Éric Lamoureux Of Public Affairs Advisors, Puppet-Master Of Francois Legault On SNC Lavalin

In February 2019, Quebec Premier Francois Legault called on the Federal Government to make a deal with SNC Lavalin in the ongoing criminal case. Presumably, that meant offering Lavalin a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, or DPA. This would allow them to continue bidding on Federal contracts immediately, and bypass the mandatory 10 year ban. Previously, Quebec had been pressuring Ottawa to change the law to allow for such legislation to be enacted.

The topic of corruption at SNC Lavalin has been addressed in this mini series. Take a read through for more background information.

Now, a question has to be asked: where did Legault get this idea? Who has been pulling his strings?

Éric Lamoureux
Managing Director, Montréal

Éric Lamoureux has been helping Canadian corporate and political leaders effectively manage complex public policy and reputational issues for more than a decade. In that time, he has been a political advisor to leading federal and municipal politicians, national associations, cultural groups, and both national and global corporations.

Based in Montréal, Éric draws on deep expertise in politics and public administration to help clients protect and promote their interests in Canada and Québec. As a specialist in issues management, regulatory affairs, stakeholder relations and media relations, Éric has achieved many notable successes on behalf of his clients, including: helping a global financial services company safeguard its market position in the face of regulatory change; mobilizing the support of a provincial government to pressure for changes to the federal Criminal Code on a client’s behalf; and encourage a major Canadian municipal government to reverse a decision to construct a public building beside a client facility.

As Managing Director based in Montréal, Éric leads all of the firm’s activities and operations in Québec, and works with clients on issues across Canada.

Meet Éric Lamoureux Of Public Affairs Advisors, PPA, a lobbying firm that operates out of Quebec and Ottawa. While he doesn’t name SNC Lavalin, perhaps to make it less obvious, who else could it be?

The implication is that Lamoureux and PPA lobbied the Quebec Government to pressure the Federal Government to change the law. This would have allowed Lavalin to escape the worst of potential criminal sanctions. If this isn’t illegal, at a minimum it’s incredibly sleazy.

It takes a special kind of stupid to announce corruption in your professional profile. Then again, in this atmosphere, it may just be a form of advertising.

According to his LinkedIn page, Lamoureux worked for the Liberals from 2003 to 2006. Keep in mind, this is the period that Jean Chretien was forced to resign (because of corruption allegations). Later, Paul Martin was voted out of office (because of corruption allegations). Afterwards, Lamoureux became the Chief of Staff for the Ottawa Mayor.

So why not just lobby Ottawa directly? Well, that was done as well, primarily by Bruce Hartley (a Chretien operative), and William Pristanski (a Mulroney operative). Check earlier pieces in the series. Lamoureux and PPA were just another level of pressure, trying to get Quebec to pile on with the Federal Liberals.

Now, it’s possible that Lamoureux is just puffing his chest, and he isn’t the mastermind. But then, why brag about something like this? It’s strange that his name doesn’t appear anywhere in the mainstream press about this “accomplishment”.

Looking through the index of advisors, it’s clear that these are political hacks (of different Parties), who come together to peddle influence for whoever happens to pay their bills.

Felix Wong is an Advisor in PAA’s Ottawa office with nearly a decade of political experience and a strong background in communications, public policy, issues management and stakeholder engagement.
.
Felix understands the government decision-making process, having worked in various roles on Parliament Hill, including as an advisor to several Cabinet Ministers. In addition, he served as Manager of National Outreach for the Conservative Party of Canada and has been a part of two national election campaign teams for the Conservatives. In these roles, he helped create a stakeholder outreach strategy to communicate policies to Canada’s diverse cultural communities.

Maryanne Sheehy is an Advisor in Ottawa providing strategic analysis, public policy, media, and stakeholder relations advice to clients.
.
Maryanne has an in-depth knowledge of government having worked in the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa for over five years where she served in a variety of roles including as an Advisor for stakeholder relations and outreach. She brings expertise in developing and implementing communications, stakeholder, and issues management strategies for key business and political decision makers. During her time on Parliament Hill, Maryanne also worked as an Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff and was part of two national campaign teams for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Not to worry, this isn’t just a problem of Liberal cronyism. At least at few advisors at PPA has ties to the higher ups on the Conservative Party of Canada.

Latitia Scarr is a Senior Advisor & Client Director in Ottawa, where she brings extensive experience in policy, government relations and communications. Most recently, she worked for the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, managing advocacy and regulatory issues affecting trade.
.
Previous roles have included Caucus Services in the Liberal Research Bureau/Office of the Leader of the Opposition and Policy Manager at the Liberal Party of Canada National Office. These and other positions have given her wide-ranging knowledge on issues such as trade, agriculture and food, public safety, health, customs, innovation, Indigenous affairs, natural resources, among others, as well as of the public policy arena.

Bit of a side note: she also worked for the coalition for gun control. Now she works with so-called conservatives. How peculiar.

Dan Pfeffer is a Senior Advisor & Client Director in Ottawa, working with the firm’s clients at the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government. Based in Ottawa, he holds a Ph.D. in political science and has researched and published on various aspects of public policy and government decision making. He also has taught in faculties of various universities including McGill and l’Université du Québec à Montréal.
.
Dan brings extensive knowledge of group mobilization and stakeholder engagement to his work on behalf of clients in the health, technology, financial services and telecommunications sectors. In addition to his academic work, he served as a key member of the campaign team that elected Anthony Housefather in the hotly contested federal riding of Mount Royal in 2015.

Pfeffer taught at McGill University. That is a strange coincidence (if it is one) that current Attorney General David Lametti is a Professor there, currently on leave. Lametti was brought in as the “fixer” after Jody Wilson-Raybould refused to grant SNC Lavalin their DPA.

Noah Niznick is a Senior Advisor & Client Director in Ottawa, where he works closely with clients in the financial services, natural resource and health care sectors. He joined the firm after serving for several years as the senior political advisor to the national caucus chair of Canada’s Official Opposition.
.
In that role, Noah established deep policy knowledge and strong relationships with elected officials, government advisors, as well as the many stakeholders engaged in public policy at the federal level. He has developed significant policy initiatives on a range of economic, consumer, and technology issues, working with a range of diverse interests. He also manages traditional and social media strategies, as well as issue-focused communications campaigns to reach targeted audiences.

Michael von Herff founded the firm in 2010 and works with clients to advance their public policy and regulatory agendas in Canada, the United States and Europe.
.
Over the past 25 years, Michael has helped clients protect and promote their interests with governments, media and stakeholders on the issues that matter most to their business. He has delivered success on a range of challenging assignments including: convincing a U.N. body to pass new regulations to accommodate the concerns of one of the world’s most important commodity groups; securing $100 million in new government support for a research fund in a previously ignored disease area; and, ensuring a major Canadian services company did not become a victim of policy change during a major overhaul of financial services regulations.

Other than political cronyism, what else are these people up to these days? Who’s writing the cheques now?

Seems that Public Affairs Advisors is now lobbying on behalf of Moderna. After all, Canadians need those interim authorized (not approved), mRNA vaccines to be distributed immediately. Seems that the PPA really will represent anybody. We’ll have to see what else comes their way.

(1) https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/quebec-premier-wants-ottawa-to-settle-with-snc-lavalin-so-firm-avoids-trial
(2) https://canucklaw.ca/corruption-reviews-snc-lavalin/
(3) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/eric-lamoureux/
(4) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericlamoureux/
(5) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/our-advisors/
(6) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/felix-wong/
(7) https://www.linkedin.com/in/wongfelix88/
(8) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/maryanne-sheehy/
(9) https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryanne-sheehy/
(10) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/latitia-scarr/
(11) https://www.linkedin.com/in/latitia-scarr-59a31435/
(12) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/dan-pfeffer/
(13) https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-pfeffer-95a48319/
(14) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/noah-niznick/
(15) https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahniznick/
(16) http://publicaffairsadvisors.com/michael-von-herff/
(17) https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-von-herff-2aab2411/
(18) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/advSrch?V_SEARCH.command=navigate&time=1620295865125
(19) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=368615&regId=911693
(20) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/snc-lavalin-quebec-caq-1.5056385

Posted on

FCLT Global; World Economic Forum; CPPIB; Ontario Teachers

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario supporting forcing masks on kindergarten students. It’s interesting, since their pension fund is partnered with the World Economic Forum. It’s also part of the group Focus on Capital Long Term Global. How deep does this rabbit hole go?

1. More On The International Banking Cartel

For more on the banking cartel, check this page. See who is really controlling things, and the common lies that politicians and media figures tell. The bankers work with the climate mafia and pandemic pushers to promote mutual goals of control and debt slavery. Many pension funds also seem tied to this agenda.

2. Important Links

https://twitter.com/ETFOeducators/status/1371865858046365704
https://www.otpp.com/
https://www.weforum.org/organizations/ontario-teachers-pension-plan
https://www.fcltglobal.org/
https://www.fcltglobal.org/mission/
https://www.fcltglobal.org/team-member/lady-lynn-forester-de-rothschild/
https://www.fcltglobal.org/team-member/larry-fink/
https://www.weforum.org/partners
https://www.baincapital.com/about-us
https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/about-us/sustainability-resilience-research
https://www.weforum.org/people/mark-wiseman
https://www.blackstone.com/
https://www.cppinvestments.com/
https://www.otpp.com/
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/jo-taylor

3. Focus On Capital Long Term Group

Millions of people around the world are saving money to meet personal goals – funding a comfortable retirement, saving for someone’s education, or buying a home, to name a few.

The funds to support these goals are safeguarded by institutional investors – pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, and asset managers – who invest in companies for the prospect of growth and security. These savers, their communities, and the institutions that support them make up the global investment value chain, and each benefit from long-term decisions in different ways:

Data shows that long-term-oriented investors deliver superior performance, and long-term-oriented companies outperform in terms of revenue, earnings, and job creation. But despite overwhelming evidence of the superiority of long-term investments, short-term pressures are hard to avoid. A majority of corporate executives agree that longer time horizons for business decisions would improve performance, and yet half say they would delay value-creating projects if it would mean missing quarterly earnings targets.

  • Aberdeen Asset Management
  • APG Asset Management
  • Baillie Gifford
  • Bain Capital
  • Barclays
  • BlackRock
  • Blackstone
  • Bloomberg
  • BP
  • Bridgewater Associates
  • Brookfield Asset Management
  • CPP Investments
  • Carlyle Group
  • Cisco
  • De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
  • Dow
  • Edelman
  • EQT
  • EY
  • Federated Hermes
  • Fidelity Investments
  • Future Fund
  • Generation Investment Management
  • GIC
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Hillhouse Capital
  • Hong Kong Monetary Authority
  • IFM Investors
  • Inclusive Capital Partners
  • Kempen Capital Management
  • KPMG
  • La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
  • Mastercard
  • McKinsey & Company
  • MFS Investment Management
  • MSCI
  • Nasdaq
  • Natixis Investment Managers
  • Neuberger Berman
  • New Zealand Super Fund
  • Norges Bank Investment Management
  • Nuveen Asset Management
  • Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
  • PSP Investments
  • Royal DSM
  • Russell Reynolds Associates
  • Schroders
  • Snow Lake Capital
  • State Street Corporation
  • Sullivan & Cromwell
  • Syngenta Group
  • Tata Sons
  • Temasek
  • TPG Capital
  • Unilever
  • Vista Equity Partners
  • Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
  • Walmart
  • Washington State Investment Board
  • Wellington Management

Not only are these organizations part of FCLT Group, but most are also partners of the World Economic Forum. It seems that asset management and social justice are joining forces. Ideologically, FCLT Group and WEK seem to align.

As a side note: Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild is one of the Strategic Advisors of FCLT Group. She also sits on the Trilateral Commission.

Let’s take a look at some of the companies in this group. These reviews hardly cover everything, but are to show some of the more interesting details of those involved. While nothing presented here proves anything underhanded is going on, the extensive connections are too great to ignore.

4. Bain Capital

Guidelines For Responsible Investment
With approximately $120 billion in assets under management, Bain Capital and its business units utilize a strategic, fact-based and diligence-driven investment approach that by definition includes a multitude of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.

Bain Capital believes that these ESG practices lead to better investment outcomes while considering the firm’s broader impacts on the environment and society. The firm takes its responsibility seriously and continually monitors the broad consequences of every investment to ensure we are taking all of our stakeholders’ needs into account. By living these values, we create lasting impact for our investors, teams, businesses and communities where we live and work.

Bain Capital is an American, multinational investment firm. It was co-founded by Mitt Romney, the ex-Massachusetts Governor, 2-time Presidential Candidate, and current Utah Senator. Like other firms, Bain is moving more and more into the en

Romney’s business history is interesting, and it includes start up money from Robert Maxwell, father of accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

5. Blackrock

Blackrock is a large, multinational investment firm. Lately, it has adopted the mantra of sustainable investing, and bringing that ideology into everything that it does.

Larry Fink is a Strategic Advisor for FCLT, and is the head of Blackrock, which he cofounded with several others. According to his profile:

“Mr. Fink serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of New York University and is Co-Chairman of the NYU Langone Medical Center Board of Trustees. Mr. Fink also serves on the Boards of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Council on Foreign Relations and Robin Hood, the poverty-fighting charitable organization. He is also an Executive Committee member of The Partnership for New York City, the economic development organization.”

Blackrock also owns SNC Lavalin. That Quebec based firm has been involved in serious corruption scandals in recent years. However, thanks to its vast political connections, and lobbying everyone in Parliament, it has been able to get away from most of it.

Lavalin owes much of its success in lobbying for a deferred prosecution agreement to Bruce Hartley, and William Pristanski. Hartley worked in the Liberal Government of Jean Chretien, and Pristanski worked for the Conservative Government of Brian Mulroney. They influence both major parties at the Federal level.

6. Blackstone

Building on more than a decade of sustainability efforts, we are launching a program to reduce carbon emissions by 15% across all new investments where we control energy usage.

Over the last decade, Blackstone has helped its portfolio companies and properties improve their energy efficiency—generating meaningful savings while positively impacting the environment. Today, we are expanding these sustainability efforts by setting a goal of 15% carbon emissions reduction across all new investments where we control energy usage. We will support them in achieving this goal with a set of tools and resources to reduce their carbon footprint.

Another investment firm supporting ESG. This is unique in that it has former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sitting on the Board of Directors

Rochelle B. Lazarus is a Board Member, and also sits on the Board of Merck (a pharmaceutical company), and on the Council on Foreign Relations. Director Ruth Porat also is part of the CFR. Former U.S Senator Kelly A. Ayotte was an advisor for Microsoft.

Blackstone also owns G4S, the private security firm that Brian Pallister brought into Manitoba as “extra help”. G4S runs detention services, and is involved in surveillance and intelligence gathering.

7. CPP Investments

At CPP Investments we consider responsible investing simply as intelligent long-term investing. Over the exceptionally long investment-horizon over which we invest, ESG factors have the potential to be significant drivers – or barriers – to profitability and shareholder value. For these reasons we refer to what many call ‘Responsible Investing’ activities simply as Sustainable Investing.

Given our legislative objective, we consider and integrate both ESG risks and opportunities into our investment analysis, rather than eliminating investments based on ESG factors alone.

As an owner, we monitor ESG factors and actively engage with companies to promote improved management of ESG, ultimately leading to enhanced long-term outcomes in the companies and assets in which more than 20 million CPP contributors and beneficiaries have a stake.

CPP Investments has established governing policies, approved by our Board of Directors, to guide our ESG activities. Our Policy on Sustainable Investing establishes how CPP Investments approaches ESG factors which aligns with our legislative objective to maximize long-term investment returns without undue risk of loss. Our Proxy Voting Principles and Guidelines provide guidance on how CPP Investments is likely to vote on matters put to shareholders and communicate CPP Investments’ views on governance matters.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), is supposed to manage the national pension plan of Canadians.

There are several things to mention. First, in an honest accounting of the pension plan, there would be over $1 trillion in unfunded liabilities. It is propped up through ever increasing amounts of contributions. Second, this can only be propped up by an increasing contribution base — such as importing the 3rd World. Third, the overwhelming majority is invested outside of Canada. Fourth, the plan has thoroughly embraced the ESG doctrine (environment, social, governance).

Canadian pension funds shouldn’t be involved in social engineering, especially abroad. It should be used domestically in ways that put Canadians to work.

8. Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs has long been a stepping stone for bankers to eventually land positions in the U.S. Government. Indeed, many such people have ended up in the Treasury Department, under both Democrat and Republican Administrations. It’s too extensive to properly list here.

Another ex-Goldman employee is Mark Carney. He formerly headed both the Bank of Canada, and the Bank of England. He is now in charge of the UN Climate Action Finance, and has openly threatened to bankrupt firms that don’t play along with the climate change agenda.

9. La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Quebec is not part of the Canada Pension Plan, and instead, operate their own version of it. Both are pumping money into the eco-agenda. It seems that not much is really that different.

10. Mastercard

Some of the important things were included in an earlier piece. This is still relevant even now. Mastercard has been involved in facilitating mass migration from the 3rd World to the 1st. As a major payment processor, they stand to make enormous amounts of money from increasing their customer base. As cashless societies and digital currencies become more of a reality, credit card companies stand to benefit. They have also used their influence to cause significant financial headaches to people and organizations that don’t ideologically align.

11. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan

Mark [Weissman] is a Senior Managing Director at BlackRock, Global Head of Active Equities, Chairman of its Alternatives business, and Chairman of BlackRock’s Global Investment Committee. He also serves on BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2016, Mark was President & CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). Mark joined CPPIB in June, 2005 as the organization’s Senior Vice-President, Private Investments. He was later named Executive Vice-President, Investments, responsible for managing all of the investment activities of CPPIB. He was named President & CEO in 2012. Prior to joining the CPPIB, Mark was responsible for the private equity fund and co-investment program at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Previously, Mark was an officer with Harrowston Inc., a publicly traded Canadian merchant bank and a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell, practicing in New York and Paris. He also served as a law clerk to Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mark Weissman is a managing Director at Blackrock. He also used to work for both the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, and the CPPIB.

Bill Chinery is currently a Director at OTPP, and until 2013, he was the CEO of Blackrock Asset Management.

Jo Taylor, the President and CEO of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, is featured prominently by the World Economic Forum. Just a few days ago, he penned an article for WEF, promoting the “net zero” carbon agenda. OTPP has fully embraced the climate agenda, and is pouring more of members’ money into it.

The OTPP seems to support what’s going on with this “pandemic”. Seems that it filters down to the schools, and to classrooms themselves. And why are schools so willing to use remote learning? Could be partly because Zoom is also a partner with the World Economic Forum.

12. Walmart

This was addressed earlier, but Walmart has actually done quite well lately. It certainly helps that their small business competitors in places like Ontario have been all but crushed. It seems that the rampant lobbying has paid for itself, many times over.

Bruce Hartley and William Pristanski are certainly busy.

13. Some Thoughts On The Matter

These connections are nowhere near the entire story. However, a deep dive needs to be done into the various pension funds and asset management companies who are now fully aligned with the climate change agenda, and with the Great Reset.

Corporations venturing into new areas isn’t anything new, and isn’t (on its own) any reason to be alarmed. However, when everyone seems to be on board with the same things, it does raise the concerns about collusion.

Back to the initial photo: the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario supports forcing kindergarten students to wear masks. Most people would consider this to be child abuse. Could it be out of concern for the students? Or, is ETFO acting on behalf of a much, MUCH larger agenda?

These aren’t just partners making a profit. They are helping to prop up and promote the World Economic Forum, and their agenda. WEF openly supported — and facilitated — lockdowns and shutting down of society in order to crash economies globally. Now, the idea is to “build back better”.

Posted on

IBC #8(C): World Bank Gets Production Order Dismissed In 2013 SNC Lavalin Case

This is a case from several years ago. The World Bank Group (WBG) went to the Supreme Court to get an Order overturned, which compelled the organization to turn over documents in a criminal case. WBG itself was not being tried, but they had information that was potentially valuable to the accused defendants. They were charged under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, and some were employees of SNC Lavalin.

1. More On The International Banking Cartel

For more on the banking cartel, check this page. The Canadian Government, like so many others, has sold out the independence and sovereignty of its monetary system to foreign interests. BIS, like its central banks, exceed their agenda and try to influence other social agendas. See who is really controlling things, and the common lies that politicians and media figures tell. The bankers work with the climate mafia and pandemic pushers to promote mutual goals of control and debt slavery.

2. Court Rulings On World Bank

Kevin Wallace v. H.M.Q., 2014 ONSC 7449 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2014/2014onsc7449/2014onsc7449.html

World Bank Group v. Kevin Wallace, et al., 2015 CanLII 38342 (SCC)
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc-l/doc/2015/2015canlii38342/2015canlii38342.html

World Bank Group v. Wallace, 2016 SCC 15 (CanLII), [2016] 1 SCR 207
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2016/2016scc15/2016scc15.html

3. Ontario Superior Court Ruling

NORDHEIMER J.:
.
[1] The applicants are all charged with an offence under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, S.C. 1998, c. 34. They bring this application for an order requiring a third party, the World Bank Group, to produce various documents. In furtherance of that application, the applicants had subpoenas issued to two employees of the World Bank Group requiring them to appear before this court and bring with them various documents that were detailed in an appendix to the subpoenas. Neither of those individuals appeared in response to the subpoenas. I will address certain issues regarding these subpoenas later.

Background
.
[2] Some degree of factual background is necessary to understand the reason for this application. The applicants are jointly charged with one count of bribing foreign public officials, namely, officials within the government of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Three of the accused persons are former employees of SNC-Lavalin. Mohammad Ismail was Director, International Projects. Mr. Ismail reported to Ramesh Shah who was Vice-President of the International Division. Mr. Shah reported to Kevin Wallace who was Vice-President, Energy and Infrastructure, and was the senior SNC-Lavalin executive assigned to the Padma Project. Zulfiquar Ali Bhuiyan is a Bangladeshi and Canadian Citizen. It is alleged that Mr. Bhuiyan was the representative of Abul Chowdhury, a senior Bangladeshi official, who was alleged to also be involved in this matter.

[3] The background to this matter dates back to 2010 when the World Bank began receiving information suggesting that there might be corruption involving foreign public officials and company representatives in respect of a bid by SNC-Lavalin for a construction supervision contract related to the planned construction of the Padma Bridge in Bangladesh. The World Bank Group was a primary lender in relation to the Padma Bridge project.

[4] The Word Bank Group has a unit that is charged with the investigation of allegations of fraud, corruption, collusion and other improper activities in relation to World Bank financed projects. It is called the Vice Presidency for Integrity (“the INT”). In March, 2011, an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was approached by an INT investigator concerning allegations that had come to the INT’s attention regarding possible corruption involving SNC-Lavalin and the Padma Bridge project.

Conclusion
.
[67] In summary, I conclude that:
(i) the subpoenas for Christopher Kim and Paul Haynes were validly served;
.
(ii) the World Bank Group has, on the particular facts of this case, waived their immunity such that this court has jurisdiction to order production of documents in their possession;
.
(iii) the applicants have satisfied the first stage for the production of records in the hands of a third party as set out in R. v. O’Connor;
.
(iv) the World Bank Group must produce to this court the documents set out in paragraphs a, b, c and e of the Appendix to the subpoenas so that the review contemplated in the second stage of the R. v. O’Connor procedure can take place;
.
(v) if the applicants still wish to pursue the documents referred to in paragaraphs d and f of the Appendix to the subpoenas, a further hearing should be arranged to address the relevance of those documents.

The details of the criminal fraud itself isn’t what’s so interesting here. It’s the fact that the Defendants attempted to force the WBG to produce documents which they claimed was relevant to their defense. Was this really about privacy, and exerting their immunities privilege? Or, was there some other, more basic reason WBG wouldn’t want this information to be public record?

4. Supreme Court Motion For Leave

The motion to expedite the application for leave to appeal is granted. The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Number CR-13-90000727, 2014 ONSC 7449, dated December 23, 2014, is granted.

The Supreme Court of Canada granted the application to appeal and expedite the challenge from the Ontario Superior Court. Rather than comply, WBG decided to get the Order thrown out instead.

5. Supreme Court Overturns ONSC Ruling

Two issues were raised on the application: (1) whether the World Bank Group could be subject to a production order issued by a Canadian court given the immunities accorded to the IBRD and the IDA, and (2) if so, whether in the context of a challenge to the wiretap authorizations pursuant to Garofoli, the documents sought met the test for relevance.

With respect to the first issue, the trial judge found that the immunities and privileges claimed were prima facie applicable to the archives and personnel of the INT. However, he determined that the World Bank Group had waived these immunities by participating in the RCMP investigation. In any event, he was not persuaded that the documents at issue were “archives”. Moreover, in his view, the term “inviolable” in the Articles of Agreement connoted protection from search and seizure or confiscation, but not from production for inspection. On the second issue, the trial judge concluded that the documents were likely relevant to issues that would arise on a Garofoli application. Accordingly, he ordered that the documents be produced for review by the court.
.
Held: The appeal should be allowed and the production order set aside.

The trial judge erred in assessing the accused’s arguments. Although he correctly placed the burden on the accused, he did not properly assess the relevance of the documents being sought. In particular, he blurred the distinction in a Garofoli application between the affiant’s knowledge and the knowledge of others involved in the investigation. In this case, that distinction is crucial. While the documents sought may be relevant to the ultimate truth of the allegations in the affidavits, they are not reasonably likely to be of probative value to what Sgt. D knew or ought to have known since he did not consult them. The accused have not shown that it was unreasonable for him to rely on the information he received from the INT and other officers. Furthermore, accepting the argument that the INT’s records should be presumed relevant because first party documents were lost or not created would require a significant change to the O’Connor framework. Such a change is not necessary. Any loss of information must be addressed through the remedial framework set forth in R. v. La, 1997 CanLII 309 (SCC), [1997] 2 S.C.R. 680, which may well be the appropriate framework for addressing any prejudice resulting from the World Bank Group’s assertion of its immunities. The accused did not argue these issues on this appeal, and they are best left to the trial judge.

[6] First, the World Bank Group submits that the Schedules of the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-7 (“Bretton Woods Act”), grant immunity to the archives and personnel of certain constituent organizations of the World Bank Group, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“IBRD”) and the International Development Association (“IDA”). Under Schedules II and III of the Bretton Woods Act, the IBRD’s and the IDA’s “archives . . . shall be inviolable” (“archival immunity”), and “[a]ll [g]overnors, [e]xecutive [d]irectors, [a]lternates, officers and employees . . . (i) shall be immune from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity except when the [IBRD or IDA] waives this immunity” (“personnel immunity”) (Sch. II, art. VII, ss. 5 and 8; Sch. III, art. VIII, ss. 5 and 8).

[7] Accordingly, the World Bank Group submits that the documents ordered produced by the trial judge are immune from production.

[12] SNC-Lavalin was one of several companies bidding for a contract to supervise the construction of the bridge (the “Supervision Contract”). A committee of Bangladeshi officials evaluated the bids. The respondents allegedly conspired to bribe the committee to award the contract to SNC-Lavalin. Three of the respondents are former employees of SNC-Lavalin: Kevin Wallace, Ramesh Shah and Mohammad Ismail. The fourth, Zulfiquar Bhuiyan, was allegedly a representative of Abul Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi official alleged to be involved in this matter. They are all charged with an offence under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.

[13] The INT is responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and collusion in relation to projects financed by the World Bank Group. The INT is an independent unit within the World Bank Group, reporting directly to its President. Mr. Haynes and Mr. Kim were senior investigators with the INT. Mr. Haynes was the primary investigator in this matter.

V. Conclusion
.
[148] The World Bank Group’s immunities cover the records sought and its personnel, and they have not been waived. Moreover, the INT’s records were not disclosable under Canadian law. In the result, we would dismiss the respondents’ motion to strike, allow the appeal and set aside the production order.

[149] In the circumstances, given the issues raised, we would make no order as to costs. In doing so, we wish to make it clear that we do not accept Mr. Bhuiyan’s submission as to the World Bank Group’s conduct in this case.

The Supreme Court of Canada ultimately found that the World Bank Group hadn’t waived its immunities, and was within its rights to refuse a request for production in a criminal case. The claim was that Canada’s membership with WBG came with certain conditions, and that this was still intact.

6. Relevance To What’s Happening Today

Considering that the World Bank Group is heavily involved in promoting the “pandemic” narrative, getting them to turn over material in any potential litigation will be very tricky. There are many, MANY things that real journalists and the public as a whole would want to see. This organization has power over Canadians, yet, we are not allowed to see the inner workings of how it operates.

This unfortunately is a very bad precedent, in terms of getting some transparency. And given the political connections Lavalin has, one has to wonder if there was interference in these proceedings.

Posted on

SNC-Lavalin: Lobbying The Entire Legislature For Deferred Prosecution

1. Important Links

Previous Coverage:
CLICK HERE, for deferred prosecution agreement, Bill C-74.
CLICK HERE, for SNC Lavalin’s political connections.
CLICK HERE, for David Lametti, the AG who freed SNC-Lavalin, in return for a $200M kickback to McGill University.

CLICK HERE, for the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying in Canada.

2. SNC-Lavalin Lobbied David Lametti Personally

CLICK HERE, for the report associated with the meeting between David Lametti and SNC Lavalin.That’s right. On May 30, 2017, almost 2 years before becoming Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti met with SNC-Lavalin over exactly this issue. The company was looking to have the laws changed regarding so-called “white collar crime”.

3. SNC-Lavalin Lobbied Gerald Butts

CLICK HERE, for the report. On February 23, 2017, Trudeau’s Chief of Staff, Gerald Butts, met with SNC-Lavalin to discuss the possibility of a deferred prosecution agreement, which would have allowed SNC to keep getting Canadian Government contracts.

4. SNC-Lavalin Lobbied Finance Minister Bill Morneau

CLICK HERE, for the report. On October 16, 2018, SNC-Lavalin lobbied the sitting Finance Minister, Bill Morneau. One of the topics discussed was the creation of alternatives for white collar crime, or the DPA.

5. Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick Lobbied

CLICK HERE, for the report. Lavalin actually lobbied the Clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, in the hopes of getting the DPA.

Also worth noting is that there is a HUGE conflict of interest here. Kevin Lynch, Chairman of SNC-Lavalin, among other roles, was Clerk of the Privy Council. He clearly still has access to the Council. (Taken from his BMO profile.)

6. SNC-Lavalin Lobbied Group Of MPs

CLICK HERE, for the report of the meeting. As before, one common item keeps coming up: changes to policies regarding white collar crime (a.k.a. the deferred prosecution agreement).

One thing that needs to be mentioned: Peter Van Loan is a CONSERVATIVE Member of Parliament. So much for this being a Liberal-only problem.

7. CONSERVATIVE Senator Larry Smith Lobbied

CLICK HERE, for the report. Lavalin has actually taken to lobbying at least one Conservative Senator.

8. List Of Public Figures Lobbied (DPA)

(Source is here.)
Dean Allison, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Omar Alghabra, Parliamentary Secretary | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Navdeep Bains, Minister | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Simon Beauchemin, Advisor | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Stefanie Beck, Assistant Deputy Minister | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Karl Belanger, Chief of Staff | Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
Mathieu Belanger, Director of Policy | Infrastructure Canada (INFC)
Susan Bincoletto, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Trade Commissioner | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Michael Binder, President and Chief Executive Officer | Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)
Richard Botham, Assistant Deputy Minister | Finance Canada (FIN)
Mathieu Bouchard, Senior Advisor | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Scott Brison, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Gianluca Cairo, Chief of Staff | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Rebecca Caldwell, Chief of Staff | Status of Women Canada (SWC)
Zoe Caron, Chief of Staff | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Celina Cesar-Chavannes, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities | Infrastructure Canada (INFC)
Jim Carr, Minister | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Ben Chin, Chief of Staff | Finance Canada (FIN)
Brian Clow, Director | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Martin Crevier, Legislative Assistant to Peter Schiefke | House of Commons
Roger Cuzner, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Kathleen Davis, Special Assistant | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Bernie Derible, Senior Policy Advisor | Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
Rebecca Dixon, Advisor | Senate of Canada
Percy Downe, Senator | Senate of Canada
Scott Driscoll, Vice President and Chief Compliance and Ethics | Export Development Canada (EDC)
Pierre-Luc Dusseault, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Mark Eyking, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Greg Fergus, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Marc Fortin, Assistant Deputy Minister | Infrastructure Canada (INFC)
Kelly Gillis, Deputy Minister | Infrastructure Canada (INFC)
Mark Glauser, Director General | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Paul Halucha, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet | Privy Council Office (PCO)
Tasha Hanes, Chief of Staff | Finance Canada (FIN)
Jamie Innes, Director of Parliamentary Affairs | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Diamond Isinger, Special Assistant | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Phil Jennings, Associate Deputy Minister | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Stephen Kelly, Chief of Staff | Senate of Canada
Jay Khosla, Assistant Deputy Minister | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Jean-Frederique Lafaille, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet | Privy Council Office (PCO)
Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Gavin Liddy, Associate Deputy Minister | Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)
Stephen Lucas, Deputy Minister | Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
Steve MacKinnon, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
David Maloney, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Elder Marques, Senior Advisor | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Brian Masse, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Remi Masse, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
John McCallum, Ambassador of Canada to the People’s Republic of China | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
David McGovern, Associate Deputy Minister | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Duane McMullen, Director General | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Michael McNair, Executive Director | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
David McNaughton, Ambassador of Canada to the United States | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Marc Miller, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Grant Mitchell, Senator | Senate of Canada
Martin Moen, Director General | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Renze Nauta, Director of Policy and Planning | House of Commons
Kyle Nicholson, Special Assistant, Policy | Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
Julian Ovens, Chief of Staff | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Tracey Ramsey, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Phil Rheault, Senior Policy Advisor | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Paul Rochon, Deputy Minister | Finance Canada (FIN)
Kim Rudd, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Tim Sargent, Deputy Minister | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Dev Saxena, Policy Advisor | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Sandra Schwartz, Senior Policy Advisor | House of Commons
Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Official Opposition | House of Commons
Richard Sexton, President and CEO | Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
Judy Sgro, Member of Parliament | House of Commons
Miguel Simard, General Counsel | Export Development Canada (EDC)
Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada | House of Commons
Rick Stewart, Assistant Deputy Minister | Finance Canada (FIN)
Catrina Tapley, Secretary to the Cabinet (Operations) | Privy Council Office (PCO)
Owen Teo, Director of Policy | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Justin To, Director of Policy and Policy Advisor | Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Chrystine Tremblay, Deputy Minister | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Shawn Tupper, Associate Deputy Minister | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
David Usher, Ambassador of Canada to Argentina | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Michael Wernick, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet | Privy Council Office (PCO)
Steve Verheul, Assistant Deputy Minister | Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Howard Wetston, Senator | Senate of Canada
Yuen Pau Woo, Senator | Senate of Canada
Ava Yaskiel, Associate Deputy Minister | Finance Canada (FIN)
Martin Zablocki, President and CEO | Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC)

I might have missed a few, but this is still pretty extensive.

To reiterate, all of these meetings took place during the period when SNC-Lavalin was lobbying for a DPA.

8. Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer Lobbied

CLICK HERE, for report. On May 29, 2018, Andrew Scheer, Opposition Leader, and supposedly a “Conservative” was also lobbied by SNC-Lavalin. This could explain why he is so open to giving Lavalin the deferred prosecution, in spite of the corruption. He’s controlled as well.

9. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh Lobbied By SNC

CLICK HERE, for the report. Jagmeet Singh, yes the NDP leader, was “also” lobbied by SNC-Lavalin. One of the topics was “changes related to white collar crime”. Of course, this is a euphemism for the DPA (deferred prosecution agreement). Is the entire legislature in on this? Might be, from the number of Senators and MPs involved.

10. Lobbyists Bruce Hartley & William Pristanski

Also worth noting, SNC-Lavalin has two professional shills (I mean lobbyists), Bruce Hartley and William Pristanski. Both are lobbying specifically in relation to obtaining a DPA for SNC-Lavalin.

11. Is This Why Opposition So Tepid?

It seems that all parties are in on it.

Is all the bickering in the House of Commons just for show? Does SNC-Lavalin have the entire legislature in their pockets?

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Who Is SNC-Lavalin Really Connected To?

1. Important Links

(1) https://www.snclavalin.com/en
(2) https://www.snclavalin.com/en/about/leadership-and-governance/board-of-directors
(3) http://www.trudeaufoundation.ca/en/community/jacques-bougie
(4) https://pressprogress.ca/more-than-half-of-the-canada-infrastructure-banks-board-of-directors-have-liberal-connections/
(5) https://buffalochronicle.com/2019/03/22/bmos-kevin-lynch-threatened-job-losses-in-call-to-wernick/

(6) https://canucklaw.ca/canadian-infrastructure-bank-and-cib-act/
(7) https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-6.18/FullText.html
(8) https://canucklaw.ca/canadas-bill-c-74-deferred-prosecution-agreementand-oecd-anti-bribery-agreementand-oecd-anti-bribery-agreement/
(9) https://www.budget.gc.ca/fes-eea/2018/docs/statement-enonce/fes-eea-2018-eng.pdf (Pgs 37-42)
(10) https://canucklaw.ca/unifor-interview-denies-crawling-into-bed-with-government/
(11) https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/social-innovation-social-finance/steering-group/member-biographies.html

(12) https://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/procurement/debarred-firms
(13) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/d-2.5/page-1.html
(14) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/h_00000.html
(15) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/clntSmmry?clientOrgCorpNumber=359826&sMdKy=1562758127214
(16) https://www.elections.ca/WPAPPS/WPF/EN/CCS/C
(17) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=359914&regId=890581
(18) https://business.financialpost.com/news/rcmp-charges-snc-lavalin-with-fraud-and-corruption-linked-to-libyan-projects

2. Who Are The Board Members Of SNC-Lavalin?

  • Ian L. Edwards is the interim President and CEO. Prior to joining Lavalin, he worked at Leighton Asia, which had its own corruption scandal.
  • Kevin Lynch is the Chairman of SNC-Lavalin, but he has also held other interesting roles:
    (1) former Clerk of Privy Council;
    (2) former Secretary to the Cabinet;
    (3) former Deputy Minister of Finance;
    (4) former Deputy Minister of Industry;
    (5) former Executive Director for Canada at the IMF;
    (6) current Vice-Chairman of BMO Financial Group
  • Jacques Bougie, O.C., is member of Governance & Ethics Committee, with some connections of his own:
    (1) Director of CSL Group Inc.;
    (2) Director at McCain Foods Limited;
    (3) former Board member at RBC;
    (4) former Board Member at Bell Canada;
    (5) former member of Trilateral Commission;
    (6) Member of Trudeau Foundation
  • Isabelle Courville, Chair of the Human Resources Committee
    (1) Chair of the board of directors of the Laurentian Bank of Canada;
    (2) President of Bell Canada’s Enterprise segment from 2003 to 2006;
    (3) Director of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited;
    (4) director of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations;
    (5) former member of APEC Business Advisory Council
  • Catherine J. Hughes, Member of the Audit Committee
  • Steven L. Newman, Chair of the Governance and Ethics Committee
    (1) non-executive director of Tidewater, Inc.;
    (2) Dril-Quip, Inc.;
    (3) Rubicon Oilfield International Holdings GP Ltd;
    (4) limited partner of Rubicon Oilfield International Holdings
  • Jean Raby, Member of the Audit Committee
    (1) former adviser to the CFO of Nokia;
    (2) member of the board of Fiera Capital Corporation;
    (3) Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs (France, then Russia);
    (4) Chief Financial and Legal Officer of Alcatel-Lucent S.A
  • Alain Rhéaume, Member of the Audit Committee
    (1) Ministry of Finance of the Québec Government, 1974 to 1996;
    (2) former public director of the Canadian Public Accountability Board;
    (3) former Executive Vice-President of Rogers Wireless
  • Eric D. Siegel, ICD.D, Member of the Audit Committee
    (1) former President and CEO of Export Development Canada (EDC);
    (2) Director of Citibank Canada
  • Zin Smati,, Chair of the Safety, Workplace and Project Risk Committee
  • Benita M. Warmbold, Chair of the Audit Committee, has been in finance for decades. Here are some of her connections.
    (1) Senior VP and COO of CPPIB from 2008 to 2013;
    (2) Senior Managing Director and CFO of CPPIB from 2013-2017;
    (3) Director at Bank of Nova Scotia;
    (4) former CFO for Northwater Capital Management Inc

Kevin Lynch is Vice-Chairman of BMO Financial Group.
Jacques Bougie is a former Board Member at RBC.
Benita M. Warmbold is a former Director at Scotia Bank.
Eric D. Siegel is Director at Citibank Canada.
Isabelle Courville is Chair of BOD at Laurentian Bank.
Jean Raby is former Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs.

Alain Rhéaume is former Executive VP of Rogers.
Jean Raby is former advisor to CFP of Nokia.
Jacques Bougie is a former Director at Bell.

3. Access To Privy Council Via Kevin Lynch

(Kevin Lynch, Chairman of SNC Lavalin, among other roles, was Clerk of the Privy Council. He clearly still has access to the Council. Taken from his BMO profile.)

From the Buffalo Chronicle article:

SNC Lavalin Chairman Kevin G. Lynch, who also serves as Bank of Montreal‘s Vice Chairman, placed a call on October 15th to Michael Wernick, during which he repeatedly threatened the Clerk of the Privy Council of a potential loss of 9,000 Canadian jobs — ominously suggesting that the decision was to be made at a looming board meeting. Lynch feared that his firm could be implicated in the widespread bribery of First Nations officials in British Columbia.

Wernick, who holds a bachelors degree in economics from the University of Toronto, did not apply scrutiny to that assertion, despite his training, before repeating the threat to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others in the PMO.

Although Lynch had left the Privy Council a decade ago, he clearly still has some clout. A single phone call was enough to get Michael Wernick to attempt to get SNC Lavalin off the hook via the DPA (deferred prosecution agreement). Wernick doesn’t seem to see problem with SNC-L having such easy access to the Privy Council. However, the majority of Canadians do.

4. Jacques Bougie Sits On Trudeau Foundation

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

Yet another obvious conflict of interest case. A board member of Lavalin also sitting on the board of the Trudeau foundation. Not that these two roles would ever get Goudie to lean on Trudeau for favourable treatment towards Lavalin.

5. Jacques Bougie Also Sits On McCain’s B.O.D.

(Finance Minister Bill Morneau is married to Nancy McCain, heiress to McCain’s Food’s Ltd. Jacques Bougie from SNC-Lavalin “also” sits as a Director for McCain’s.)

6. Bruce Hartley: SNC Lobbyist & Liberal Donor

(Bruce Hartley is a regular Liberal donor, according to Elections Canada.)

(Hartley is also a registered lobbyist for SNC-Lavalin)

Bruce Hartley, now a lobbyist for SNC-Lavalin, has donated 124 times since 2005 to the Liberal Party and its members. But now that he acts as a lobbyist, he certainly won’t get the Liberals (whom he supports financially) to do anything nefarious, would he?

Actually, he did. Hartley, in his capacity as an SNC-Lavalin employee, lobbied the Federal Government to introduce the “Deferred Prosecution Agreement” (or DPA). This DPA would allow companies like Lavalin to avoid a 10 year ban on receiving government contracts if found guilty of criminal activity

That’s right. A long time Liberal supporter gets a job as a lobbyist. He then turns around and uses that position to get the law changed to allow his new employer to get off the hook for what would have been a 10 year ban on Canadian contracts.

And here is another lobbyist, William Pristanski, who also lobbied to get the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) for Lavalin.

Reading through his profile with the Lobbying Commissioner of Canada, it seems Pristanski’s role was basically the same as Hartley’s.

7. SNC Lobbied Current Attorney General David Lametti

(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 people who “donated” $200M to McGill University were also caught “donating” almost $1M to Trudeau)

David Lametti is now the Attorney General of Canada, after Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned. Interesting to note that Wilson-Raybould thought that SNC-Lavalin “didn’t” deserve the deferred prosecution. Her successor, Lametti did. Could it be because of Lavalin lobbying him?

Within days of Lametti deciding that SNC-Lavalin was not worth prosecuting, McGill University (where Lametti teaches law), received a $200M “gift” from European Climate Founder McCall MacBain.

Note: Trudeau had also received 2 donations from them.

  • $500,000 in 2015 as a candidate
  • $428,000 IN 2016 as sitting Prime Minister

8. Lavalin & Libya Connections

The case against SNC and two of its subsidiaries stems from the company’s dealings in Libya between 2001 and 2011, when a senior executive established close ties with Saadi Gaddafi, son of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Court documents allege the company offered bribes worth $47.7 million “to one or several public officials of the ‘Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,’” as Gaddafi called the nation he ruled until he was overthrown and killed in 2011.

SNC and its subsidiaries SNC-Lavalin Construction Inc. and SNC-Lavalin International Inc. are also alleged to have defrauded various Libyan public agencies of approximately $129.8 million.

“Corruption of foreign officials undermines good governance and sustainable economic development,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud said Thursday. “The charges laid today demonstrate how the RCMP continues to support Canada’s international commitments and safeguard its integrity and reputation.”

(See source.)

Lavalin denies all the allegations, but interesting to see just how deep this runs. There are also allegations that Canadian taxpayers are on the hook for $30,000 for prostitution services for Saadi Gaddafi. He is the son of former dictator Mummar Gaddafi.

9. Fall 2018 Economic Update Social Finance Fund, A Potential Slush Fund?

While the $595 million media bailout received much attention in the media, far less was paid to the slush fund that was also announced to the Social Finance Program that was also launched.

In June 2017, the Government created a Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy Co-Creation Steering Group, primarily comprised of experts from the charitable and non-profit sector, to provide recommendations on the development of a social innovation and social finance strategy. The Steering Group delivered its final report, Inclusive innovation: New Ideas and New Partnerships for Stronger Communities, in August 2018. One of the report’s key recommendations was to create a Social Finance Fund to help close the capital financing gap faced by organizations that deliver positive social outcomes, and to help accelerate the growth of the existing social finance market in Canada.

To help charitable, non-profit and other social purpose organizations access new financing, and to help connect them with private investors looking to invest in projects that will drive positive social change, the Government proposes to make available up to $755 million on a cash basis over the next 10 years to establish a Social Finance Fund. Additionally, the Government proposes to invest $50 million over two years in an Investment and Readiness stream, for social purpose organizations to improve their ability to successfully participate in the social finance market. It is expected that a Social Finance Fund like the one the Government is proposing could generate up to $2 billion in economic activity, and help create and maintain as many as 100,000 jobs over the next decade.

The Steering Committee consists of 16 members, who will doll out the cash.

10. Last thoughts on Lavalin

Will SNC Lavalin be getting any of this cash? Hard to say, but there are two things to point out:

(1) Lavalin is know to be corrupt and is losing business. One such example is getting debarred from the World Bank for corrupt business practices.

(2) The other item is that the connections between Lavalin and the Government are immense.

  • Director of Lavalin also a former Privy Council Clerk
  • Director of Lavalin also Director of Trudeau Foundation on
  • Director of Lavalin also a Director or McCain Foods
  • Lobbyist for Lavalin also frequent Liberal donor
  • President of Lavalin lobbied current Attorney General

Yes, this is entirely speculative. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if grants flowed to Lavalin from this social fund.

After all, if you are connected enough to have laws written to excuse your criminal conduct, this should be no problem.

By no means is this a complete listing of the tentacles that SNC Lavalin has. Rather, it should show some of the obvious connections to Government officials.