Liberal MP for Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky says government did the wise thing in the handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair
(By News Desk)
Pamela Goldsmith-Jones “wholeheartedly supports” prime minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair, she told The Coast Clarion at a meeting at the Public Market March 8. Goldsmith-Jones is Liberal MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky country.
Last Wednesday, The Globe and Mail published a list with names of Liberal MPs who supported the prime minister and remained confident in his leadership. Goldsmith-Jones’ name was not on the list.
“I wanted to wait until his speech on Thursday,” she told The Coast Clarion.
Referring to the testimony on Wednesday of Gerald Butts, former right-hand man to prime minister Justin Trudeau, she said: ” I think it was wise of the government to ask Jody Wilson-Raybould for a second opinion [about a deferred prosecution agreement], in light of the fact that this new legislation had never been used before.”
A deferred prosecution agreement is a negotiated settlement in which a company admits wrongdoing and pays a fine but avoids a trial.
Wilson-Raybould’s version is different. She resigned from her position of Minister of Justice and attorney-general on February 12 and testified before the Commons Justice Committee on February 27 that the prime minister and several senior government officials had put pressure on her to find a way to keep SNC-Lavalin from being prosecuted.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Butts said Wilson-Raybould had only been asked to “consider a second opinion” on the potential loss of 9,000 jobs.
Goldsmith-Jones, parliamentary secretary to minister of foreign affairs Christia Freeland, says she fully supports Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott as well. “We are friends. I talk with them almost every day.”
Treasury Board President Jane Philpott resigned on March 4, saying in her resignation letter that she has “lost confidence” in the prime minister’s ability to handle the SNC-Lavalin affair, and that her ethics demand she take a stand.
So, she supports both sides? Why are politicians these days afraid to take a stand on anything?
I voted Liberal last time because I feared Harper getting back in, I didn’t like Mulcair, and I thought the NDP candidate in this riding was unlikely to win. No more strategic voting for me. Pam won’t get my vote next time. I’d already decided that before this SNC Lavalin situation because of all Trudeau’s broken promises (especially the one about electoral reform). Our country is being run by corporations and that is going to mean death to what’s left of democracy if it continues.