Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould: The scandal that could unseat Canada's PM
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BBC
- Posted On 02-03-2019, 12:09AM
A simmering political scandal involving Justin Trudeau and his ex-attorney general came to the boil dramatically this week.
Now, people are calling on him to resign.
In a nutshell
Mr Trudeau has been accused of pressuring his former attorney general to cut a deal with a company facing corruption charges - and retaliating when she refused to play ball.
The revelations could cost Trudeau the October general election, some pundits say.
The former AG says Trudeau and his staff spent months trying to convince her that taking the company to trial would cost Canadians jobs, and their party votes.
She also says she was subject to "veiled threats", which she believes were made good when she was shuffled out of her department.
Who are the players?
The spurned ex-minister: Jody Wilson-Raybould was Canada's attorney general and justice minister. Unlike in the UK and US, the two roles are held by the same person.
She was also Canada's first indigenous justice minister and worked on a number of pieces of landmark legislation, including legalising cannabis and assisted dying.
In January, she was shuffled from the justice department to the department of veteran's affairs - a move many saw as a demotion.
The corporation: SNC-Lavalin is one of the world's largest engineering and construction companies.
The company faces fraud and corruption charges in relation to approximately C$48m ($36m; £28m) in bribes it is alleged to have offered to Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011, when Muammar Gaddafi was in power.
The firm has openly lobbied to be allowed to enter into a remediation agreement instead of going to trial, saying it has cleaned house and changed its ways.
The PM: Justin Trudeau is Canada's prime minister. He won a majority government in 2014 on a platform of transparency, gender equality and a commitment to reconciliation with Canada's indigenous peoples.
He faces a federal election in October 2019.
