Among the 60 people who gathered at a downtown Ottawa hotel for a day and a half this month to discuss the Liberal government’s campaign for re-election was Gerry Butts, the senior adviser and close friend of Justin Trudeau who left the Prime Minister’s Office five months ago in the midst of Trudeau’s painful spring.
The Libranos: Greenlighting Antifa
h/t B A Deplorable Rupertslander
The Doug Ford and Dean French Saga
Doug Ford and his patronage appointments.
Oh, wait….
It’s good to be rich and a Liberal
“We work with the municipalities and federal government to submit a list of what we think, some projects that would be submitted — we put some on, the national government wanted the airport put on and we will put it on,” McNeil said.
The Liberals are taking $18 million from taxpayers to fund a private airport at the elite Cabot Links Golf Resort for their millionaire friends to park their private jets. #cdnpoli #nspoli #capebreton pic.twitter.com/CFrZF9uxqr
— John Barlow (@JohnBarlowMP) June 20, 2019
Libranos
The Libranos: Starch In Their Uniforms
The federal government’s industrial benefits program for military procurement is so open to interpretation that instead of high-tech defence industry jobs Canada could end up with more plants that produce french fries, say procurement specialists.
The government has allowed Irving Shipbuilding to claim a $40-million industrial benefit credit for an Alberta french fry factory as part of a contract to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships, the Globe and Mail confirmed Thursday.
Under the government’s industrial and technological benefits policy, the prime contractors on such military procurements are required to do work in Canada equal to 100 per cent of the value of the contract they receive.
h/t Joe
The Libranos: SNC Lavalin
There is enough evidence against SNC-Lavalin for the engineering corporation to be tried on fraud and bribery charges, a Quebec court judge has ruled.
SNC-Lavalin spent months lobbying the federal government to avoid finding itself in this position. It hoped to use a new legal mechanism — a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) — to pay a fine rather than risk conviction.
But its efforts ignited a major political scandal in Ottawa when the former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, accused the Prime Minister’s Office of pressuring her to arrange a deal for SNC-Lavalin.
The court’s decision was handed down in Montreal on Wednesday. It followed an extended preliminary inquiry into accusations from federal prosecutors in 2015.
The Media Party
BREAKING: MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS AVERTED
Police north of Toronto have charged a father and son after officers found explosive materials and a detonator device at a home in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Reza Mohammadiasl, 47, and his son Mahyar, 18, were arrested on Monday and charged with one count each of possession of an explosive device following a search of their home, according to York Regional Police.
Both men were scheduled to appear in Newmarket court today.
After reviewing the names of the accused, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has determined the incident to be a “local matter”.
The Libranos: The Process Is The Punishment
National Post: Federal government expected to withdraw breach of trust charge against Mark Norman
It is unclear why exactly the government appears ready to end the case.
Norman, who is charged with a single count of breach of trust for allegedly leaking cabinet secrets about the government’s $700-million shipbuilding deal, was the No. 2 in the Canadian Forces until his temporary suspension in January of 2017.
He wasn’t charged by the RCMP until March of 2018.
Now more than a year later it is unclear why exactly the government appears ready to end the case.
There’s an election coming?
You’ll Have To Excuse Ralphie
And The Budget Will Tweet Itself
SNC-Libranos
“He just crawled out the window again with that answer.”
They’re getting the DPA.
Update… it’s as though they have someone on the inside.
"Despite the evidence collected by investigators, the Commissioner of Canada Elections decided not to bring charges against the company" https://t.co/pR3vHmwnDL
— Rachel Curran (@reicurran) April 30, 2019
SNC-Libranos
Looks like that DPA is a done deal.
Canada Has Officially Entered the Twilight Zone
Was the letter from the Shiny Pony to Sheer sent on April 1st?
SNC-Libranos
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he will release new information related to the SNC-Lavalin affair on Sunday.
In a Saturday afternoon press release, Scheer said he will present new documents related to the scandal that has plagued Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
Scheer’s team did not specify what type of information is in the documents or how many pages will be released. The announcement is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Ottawa.
h/t David Murrell
Update: I hope this isn’t it. If so, how lame.
SNC-Libranos
I sent this email to John Gormley on Thursday, but he didn’t pick up on it.
SNC-Libranos
Morning headlines.
…vindictiveness for vindictiveness’s sake
‘This isn’t about a lack of loyalty’
Trudeau’s Dumb Expulsions and Strange Compulsions
Whew! Glad that’s over – time to move forward.
Export Development Canada has hired outside legal counsel to review some of its dealings with SNC-Lavalin. The review comes after a company insider told CBC News the engineering giant secured billions in loans from the Crown agency over the years, some of which he alleges was intended to pay bribes.
If true, it could mean taxpayers have unwittingly backed illegal payments.
Export Development Canada is a federal agency that provides financing and insurance to Canadian businesses operating abroad.
The insider, who worked on several large projects funded by EDC, claims it was an “open secret” within SNC-Lavalin that “technical fees” listed in budget proposals included cash to be used as bribes to secure international contracts.
Those line items could total millions of dollars. The insider says EDC’s internal due diligence policies should have detected something was going on.
He says “technical fees” were part of a larger “lexicon of bribes” used within SNC-Lavalin. […]
He says the problems with the technical fees should have been caught by EDC auditors for two reasons. First, he says, they were listed as Canadian expenses, but a portion flowed to consultants or “agents” on the ground in foreign countries to help the company win contracts.
The second red flag, he says, should have been the sheer size of the technical fees, which could total as much as 10 per cent of a project’s overall budget.
“Due diligence” didn’t catch it. Funny, that.
SNC-Libranos
Liberals, eating each other.
Well, that’s over…. HAHAHAHAHAHA