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EDITORIAL: Investigation needed into SNC-Lavalin affair

Facts must be examined before calling for Prime Minister’s resignation
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Veterans Affairs Minister Jodie Wilson-Raybould attend a swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. The Globe and Mail says former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould disappointed the Prime Minister’s Office by refusing to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal prosecution. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Liberal MP Jody Wilson-Raybould leaves the Parliament buildings following Question Period in Ottawa, Tuesday, February 19, 2019. The House of Commons justice committee will begin hearings today into the allegation that the Prime Minister’s Office improperly pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to help Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

As the SNC-Lavalin affair continues, MP Dan Albas and others within the federal Conservative Party are calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation.

“Justin Trudeau simply cannot continue to govern this great country now that Canadians know what he has done,” Albas said in a letter to the editor.

He said the SNC-Lavalin affair exposes Trudeau as someone who has allowed partisan political motivations to come before his role as Prime Minister.

Last week, former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said she had come under pressure from Trudeau, his senior staff and others to halt a criminal prosecution against the Montreal-based engineering firm.

RELATED: LETTER: Okanagan MP calls for Trudeau to resign amid SNC-Lavalin affair

RELATED: VIDEO: Wilson-Raybould says she got veiled threats on SNC-Lavalin

She said that from September to December, 2018, she was pressured to interfere with the investigation.

Her statements are deeply concerning and deserve further investigation.

Canadians need to know whether the federal government interfered in this matter.

In a democracy, the elected leadership and those working within government must be held to a high ethical standard at all times.

Nothing less is acceptable.

When a Prime Minister or another member of the government is said to have “lost the moral authority to govern,” as Albas, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and others have said, the statements speak to the high value placed on integrity.

However, calls for Trudeau’s resignation are premature. The matter must first be investigated.

At this point, Wilson-Raybould’s comments are raising some valid concerns. Her statements need to be examined carefully.

Once an investigation has been concluded and the evidence has been weighed, appropriate actions should be taken.

To make calls for Trudeau’s resignation at this stage is to skip an essential part of the process.

The matter must be examined before appropriate action can be taken.

— Black Press

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