Despite its shortcomings, Gerald Butts’ account was the first coherent counter-narrative to the one offered by Wilson-Raybould
Gerald Butts’ testimony at the justice committee did not present any exculpatory evidence that would exonerate the Trudeau government from allegations that it engaged in a pattern of interference in the independence of the attorney general.Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary made clear he was not going to engage in a mud-slinging contest with Jody Wilson-Raybould over her testimony before the same committee last week.
Similarly, when NDP MP Charlie Angus raised the allegation that Michael Wernick, the clerk of the Privy Council, threatened Wilson-Raybould, Butts said the accusation was “inconsistent with his character”. In one curious episode, Butts said he learned just last week in her testimony that Wilson-Raybould made her final decision not to overrule the DPP on September 16 – even though in her testimony she said she told Trudeau she had made up her mind during their meeting on September 17.
The PMO appears to have concluded that the attorney general did not base her refusal to intervene on sound reason, or the advice of her department. “The attorney general is not a law unto herself and has never been historically. If the conditions set out in a section 715.32 Criminal Code remediation agreement are met, and the factors set out in the section compelling, the attorney general should enter into the agreement. The government has a duty to the public to know why, if her refusal reasons are not justified in law,” said Roger Salhany, a former justice of the Ontario Superior Court.
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