The Globe and Mail - 11.09.2019

WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER11,2019| THEGLOBEANDMAILO A

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is
scheduled to go to Rideau Hall
Wednesday to ask the Governor-
General to dissolve Parliament
and call the vote for Oct. 21, and
the RCMP has a policy to sus-
pend politically sensitive oper-
ations during campaigns.
Justice Department spokes-
man Ian McLeod said the deci-
sion not to offer a broader waiver
for the RCMP “was made solely
by the Clerk of the Privy Council
as guardian of cabinet confidenc-
es.” Mr. Trudeau’s director of
communications, Cameron Ah-
mad, said the PMO was not in-
volved in the decision.
Ethics Commissioner Mario
Dion faced the same obstacle as
the RCMP in his investigation in-
to the SNC-Lavalin affair earlier
this year, stating in his final re-
port that nine witnesses were
unable to provide full testimony
becausegovernment allowed on-
ly a limited waiver on cabinet se-
crecy.
Mr. Dion found that Mr. Tru-
deau breached the Conflict of In-
terest Act. His report said the
Prime Minister and senior feder-
al officials improperly pressed
Jody Wilson-Raybould when she
was justice minister and attor-
ney-general to order the director
of public prosecutions to settle
bribery and fraud charges
against SNC-Lavalin without a
trial.
The Department of Justice
confirmed Tuesday that the
RCMP received “the same access
to cabinet confidences and privi-
leged information” as the Ethics
Commissioner and the justice
committee of the House.
An order in council dated Feb.
25 offered a waiver to Ms. Wilson-
Raybould and “any persons who
directly participated in discus-
sions with her” about the prose-
cution of SNC-Lavalin during her
time as attorney-general. She

was moved to Veterans Affairs on

Jan. 14. The waiver allowed Ms.

Wilson-Raybould to talk to the

justice committee and the Ethics

Commissioner, but did not ex-

tend further.

The Ethics Commissioner’s re-

port said a number of discus-

sions between members of the

PMO, ministerial staffers and of-

ficials at SNC-Lavalin were con-

ducted without Ms. Wilson-Ray-

bould’s knowledge, and there-

fore were not covered by the

waiver. The former minister is

running as an Independent in

the riding of Vancouver-Gran-

ville.

The RCMP has not officially

launched a criminal investiga-

tion. The police force has said it

is “examining this matter care-

fully with all available informa-

tion.” The examination is in the

hands of the RCMP’s national di-

vision, which is in charge of sen-

sitive cases.

Last month, Conservative

Leader Andrew Scheer said “sig-

nificant grounds” existed for an

investigation into whether Mr.

Trudeau’s action constituted ob-

structing justice.

Former RCMP commissioner

Bob Paulson, who retired in 2017,

said it will be difficult for the

Mounties to complete their ex-

amination unlessthe govern-

ment waives cabinet confiden-

tiality entirely.

“The government is entitled to

assert privilege ...” Mr. Paulson

said in an interview. “If [the

RCMP] were serious enough,

they could probably get a search

warrant, but that would proba-

bly be shot down by the courts.

The privilege is pretty strong at

the cabinet level. I have not had

an experience where we suc-

ceeded in getting cabinet docu-

ments that the government

didn’t want us to have.”

He added: “In my experience,

particularly, cabinet privilege is

overasserted and I guess more

ducting a full investigation be-

cause nine witnesses were pre-

vented from sharing information

they felt was relevant. “In the

present examination, I have

gathered sufficient factual infor-

mation to properly determine

the matter on its merits,” he

wrote. “Because of my inability

to access all cabinet confidences

related to the matter, I must,

however, report that I was un-

able to fully discharge the inves-

tigatory duties conferred upon

me by the [Conflict of Interest]

Act.”

These nine people, whom he

did not identify, told him reveal-

ing this information would

breach cabinet confidentiality.

The Privy Council rejected Mr.

Dion’s request for a waiver.

A lawyer for Mr. Trudeau told

Mr. Dion the Prime Minister

played no role in Privy Council

Clerk Ian Shugart’s decision to

deny the request.

Still, Mr. Trudeau has publicly

supported the decision. “The de-

cision by the Privy Council to not

further extend into less relevant

or non-relevant elements of cab-

inet confidentiality or solicitor-

client privilege is an important

one that maintains the integrity

of our institutions and our ca-

pacity to function as a govern-

ment without setting trouble-

some or worrisome precedents,”

he said last month.

Mr. Paulson said RCMP inves-

tigators are entitled to talk to any

witnesses, but can’t they compel

people to talk to them if the gov-

ernment refused to waive cabi-

net confidentiality.

“It is up to the people to either

assert privilege or decline to talk

to us. My philosophy has been to

be aggressive in pursuing the

people who had information and

then having them assert whatev-

er reason they had not to talk to

us,” he said. “The witnesses gen-

erally talk to police unless they

were protecting privilege.”

widely applied than it deserved.”

Mr. Paulson, who said he has

no information on the RCMP

probe, said it makes sense that

the Mounties would focus on ob-

struction of justice.

“It strikes me there is suffi-

cient information to be pur-

sued,” he said. “One need to only

read the section [of the Criminal

Code] on the elements of the of-

fence and to put that against

what the public record is and I

think you have something that

needs to be explored.”

Mr. Paulson said the RCMP

brought in new rules after an in-

vestigation came to light during

the 2005-06 election campaign

that may have contributed to the

defeat of theLiberalgovernment

of Paul Martin. During the cam-

paign, the RCMP sent a letter to

the NDP saying it would conduct

a criminal probe into allegations

that Liberals leaked information

to the financial markets on how

they intended to handle the tax-

ation of income trusts.

The force later announced

that it would avoid discussing

criminal investigations during

election campaigns.

“We have a sensitive investiga-

tion policy that addresses this

very thing. If the writ is dropped

and particularly during the writ

period – unless there is some

compelling public reason to

keep investigating – they are not

going to keep investigating. Cer-

tainly if they are, they would be

wise to just shut up about it,” Mr.

Paulson said.

The RCMP started looking into

the SNC-Lavalin issue after The

Globe revealed on Feb. 7 that of-

ficials in the PMO put pressure

on Ms. Wilson-Raybould to order

prosecutors to negotiate a de-

ferred prosecution agreement in

the case, which would avoid a

trial in exchange for a financial

settlement.

In his report, Mr. Dion said he

had been hampered from con-

SNC:Cabinetprivilegeis‘overasserted,’formerRCMPcommissionersays

JustinTrudeau,seeninOttawainMarch,andhisofficemaintainthatthe

PrimeMinisterplayednoroleinthePrivyCouncilClerk’sdecisionto

denybroadwaiversofcabinetconfidentialitytoeithertheRCMPorthe

EthicsCommissioner.BLAIRGABLE/THEGLOBEANDMAIL

FROMA

NEWS |

NEWYORKThe recent drop in
long-term bond yields below
shorter ones in key sovereign
bond markets is not “a vote of
confidence” in the economic
outlook, the head of the Bank of
England said on Tuesday.
While it is easier now to
invert developed countries’ yield
curves than it had been previ-
ously, it is still no positive signal
for the economy, Bank of En-

gland Governor Mark Carney

said at an event in New York.

Yield curves in the United

States and Britain inverted for a

while in the last month. In the

U.S. case, the phenomenon has

stood as a reliable precursor to

economic recession, although its

track record is less consistent

elsewhere.

Mr. Carney, speaking a day

after the British Parliament

blocked Prime Minister Boris

Johnson’s latest bid for early

elections there amid the contin-

uing Brexit standoff, also said

business investment in Britain is

tracking at a 25-per-cent slower

pace than it was before the 2016

Brexit referendum.

The central bank official also

spoke about the extent to which

Brexit could affect the British

economy, adding that he would

expect inflation to rise and

growth to slow if Britain departs

from the European Union with-

out a deal. Mr. Carney said that

the pound is more volatile and

said the economic impact will

depend on the final terms of

Brexit.

“Sterling volatility, as you

would know, is at emerging

market levels and it’s decoupled

from other advanced economy

pairs for obvious reasons,” he

said. “Financial markets are

going to move substantially one

way or another depending on

the outcome.”

The pound experienced wide

swings over the past there

months but volatility has come

off recent highs amid dimin-

ished chances of there being a

no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31.

REUTERS

POUNDVOLATILITYCOMESOFFRECENTHIGHS,BUTBANKOFENGLANDSTILLEXPECTSINFLATIONTORISE,CARNEYSAYS

COST: FROM $5017.00 CAN. PPD CAT. BE

Cruise aboard Cunard’s magnificent 5* Queen Victoria on this

interesting 16 night vacation visiting countries with different

cultures and a shared turbulent history

Visiting Southampton, Bornholm, Gdynia, (Poland), Kliapedia,

(Latvia) Warnemunde, Copenhagen, Southampton.

Includes: 17 day cruise in Cat. BE Veranda, port taxes and fees.

Faresareperperson,basedondoubleoccupancyandapplytofirsttwopassengers in a State

Room.Faresarecapacitycontrolledbasedonspaceavailability.Governmentfeesandtaxes

ofupto$214.88p.p.areincluded.FaresarequotedinCanadiandollars.Seeapplicable

Cunardbrochurefortermsanddefinitionsthatwillapplytoyourbooking.Other restrictions

mayapply.ShipsRegistryBermuda. Tico:

CallAudrey JohnstonCTC, IATM

905.815.9804 • 1.855.837.

237 Church St., Oakville, ON L6J 1N

book with confidence,member of

QUEENVICTORIA

BALTIC HIGHLIGHTS

May 15

th

to 31

th

2020

London & U.K. Specialists

DH [email protected]

http://www.dhgrouptours.com

1-888-597-3519 905-639-

TICO # 50012768 609-2319 Fairview St, Burlington, ON L7R 2E

Tour

LONDONLONDON

Our famous "Off-season"

Show & Shopping Week in London

Departure Dates

& February 26th, 2020

November 6th, 13th, & 20th, 2019

¬ 3 coursedinnervoucher

¬ London maps and info package

¬ Airport/Hoteltransfersin London

¬ Panoramic Sight Seeing Tourwith guide on arrival

Price includes...

¬ 7 day LondonTravel Card, zones 1 & 2

¬ Return airfrom Toronto on BA or AC

¬ 6ntsTavistockHotel, with cont. b/fasts

¬ Orchestra seat to”Come From Away”

or voucher for choice of 6 other shows

¬ Allhotel taxes & service charges

Upgradehotels available.

Extensionsin London or to Paris,

Dublin, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, etc.UNBEATABLE VALUE

rates are per person/double occupancy

Single Supp.

$490CAD

$1,

CAD