Category: The Libranos

Riding Mass Transit Is like Inviting 30 Quebec Lobbyists Into Your Car

Roadkill The Libranos 22 Comments

A brown paper bag just doesn’t buy what it used to.

Ottawa’s $2.1-billion light rail system, supposed to be finished by the end of this month, will not only miss its third completion deadline but is experiencing issues far more serious than city officials have led the public to believe, according to internal reports obtained by CBC.
 
The reports from the city’s rail operations show a litany of issues with the Confederation Line — the east-west system being built by the SNC Lavalin-led Rideau Transit Group — especially when it comes to the system’s ability to handle Ottawa winters.
 
“Vehicles are currently unreliable to the point that it has not been demonstrated that operations can be sustained during a winter weather event,” according to one report from last week.
 
The reports say that “panels are coming loose and breaking on LRVs [light-rail vehicles] due to snow building up on the vehicles,” and that snow and ice are “frequently causing the doors to freeze shut.”
 
Both brakes and bogies — the underframe of the rail car that holds the wheels — also freeze up if the vehicles “sit for any amount of time” outdoors during a snowfall.

“we would of course line up all kinds of people to write op-eds saying that what she was doing is proper”

Media Shiny Pony The Libranos 58 Comments

February 28: UNPOSSIBLE!

March 1: DON’T WORRY! BE HAPPY!

March 3: “THERE’S NO SCANDAL HERE!

That didn’t take long.

Related: Katie Telford is married to Rob Silver. Rob Silver, in addition the being a regular panelist on CBC’s Power & Politics program, is a partner at Crestview Strategies. Crestview Strategies specializes in “mobilization campaigns,” which involve the manipulation of public opinion through the mobilization of activists and opinion-mongers.

The Libranos v. Wilson-Raybould: Open Thread

The Libranos 164 Comments

Bumped with continuing updates and links:

Sure, “Jody”. Wilson-Raybould says PMO restricting her ability to ‘speak freely’ at justice committee.

“The OIC addresses only my time as attorney general of Canada and therefore does nothing to release me from any restrictions that apply to communications while I served as minister of veterans affairs and in relation to my resignation from that post or my presentation to cabinet after I had resigned,” she said in the letter.

As if Trudeau’s going to be seen putting another Indian in jail.

I expect restrictions-of-the-Order-don’t-allow-me-to-speak-my-truth testimony that throws the media ball back into the Trudeau court, and not much else. Check CPAC for a live feed at 3:15 ET.

Early in her testimony, I’ll give her due credit: “veiled threats”. She’s getting right to the point.

With her opening statement complete…

Pretty much.

This too.

I retract my initial skepticism. As summarized in the comments – “She has chucked PM Trudeau and his whole Liberal cabal right under the freaking bus.” In my defense, I underestimated the stupidity of Trudeau and his band of merry idiots.

“Bombshell” is not to strong a word for her testimony. Where it goes from here, who knows? It depends on whether the paid media is satisfied with more resignations or if they pick up the torches and go for the head. But never underestimate the tenacity of a Liberal with a sub-80 IQ.

I may stay up for this: BREAKING – Prime Minister #Trudeau will now speak to reporters at 8:00 PM ET tonight.

And for those who missed it, Wilson-Raybould just compared Trudeau to Nixon.

I’m seeing a fair bit of this.

Question of the Day: If Trudeau was OK with what we heard… WTF does he NOT want us to hear?

Oh, Shiny Prime Minister!

Shiny Pony The Libranos 40 Comments

Looking these days like the loneliest man in Ottawa;

One week after losing his right-hand man Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top political aide — chief of staff Katie Telford — faces allegations she intentionally inflicted mental suffering on an ex-ambassador. […] On Monday, her lawyer will petition the Ontario Court of Justice to amend the lawsuit to have Telford and four senior officials of Global Affairs Canada added as defendants.

Huh.

More: “with friends like these”…

Bumped with this update: Mark Norman’s defence team targets Trudeau, Butts with subpoenas

The Libranos: SNC Lavalin

The Libranos 81 Comments

From “truth to power” to “silence for comfy fur”. She’s a Liberal, after all.

Update: As if by design…

A Quebec court judge stayed charges of fraud and bribery against former SNC-Lavalin executive Stéphane Roy Tuesday, ruling his right to a trial within a reasonable time had been violated.
 
Judge Patricia Compagnone said delays caused by the Crown are an example of the “culture of complacency” the Supreme Court of Canada deplored in its 2016 Jordan decision limiting the length of legal proceedings. She added that prosecutors failed to show they tried to avoid unreasonable delays in the case, which began when Roy was first charged in 2014. […]

 
Prosecutor Frédéric Hivon said the Crown will take the time to analyze the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

Isn’t that also JWR’s department?

And then, there’s this: Trudeau spoke to Wilson-Raybould after prosecutors refused SNC-Lavalin deal

Just another day in Libranoda. Someone should break it to Furniture Boy that his hero’s been bought.

The Libranos: SNC Lavalin … Breaking…

Shiny Pony The Libranos 115 Comments

“denies allegations” — Gerald Butts resigns as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary…

Hmmm.

More.

Diversity Was His Weakness

Political Animal Shiny Pony The Libranos 59 Comments

Live by identity politics, die by identity politics.

The treatment of Ms. Wilson-Raybould put a big, bold, strike-through line on the absolute core elements of the Trudeau brand. It crisscrossed so many cardinal Trudeau pretensions it was almost enough to tempt belief in trendy “intersectionality.” (Almost.)
 
It had been vowed that, in the sun-drenched days of a male-feminist Justin Trudeau administration, women would be treated better, more respectfully and above all fairer than in all the Neanderthal darkness that preceded it. Mr. Trudeau branded himself as the feminist-equity principle made flesh. Athena herself in pinstripes. […]
 
But of all the issues this prime minister has boasted of being closest to his heart, surpassing even feminist equity, the most “moral” of them all is Aboriginal relations. This, as he has said, is why he is in politics. On this file, most central to Canada’s moral integrity, he was going to be the leader.

That’s the genius of government by old white men. Nobody cares when you fire one.

The Libranos: SNC Lavalin

The Libranos 75 Comments

It’s been years since I read Bourque. These days, it’s worth an exception.

This morning, overheard at Nate’s Deli one block south of the West Block in downtown Ottawa, is a savory suggestion that at least 3 and as many as 7 Liberal MPs are ready to bolt from the Liberal caucus if Jody exits the team, including one high profile cabinet minister .. >>> And perhaps equally troubling is news out of the PMO from a person extremely close to the action that heads are about to roll inside the bunker, including the abrupt exit of one of the PM’s top adjuncts (a power struggle is underway), possibly couched as a diplomatic posting to some exotic location half way around the world. Apparently the natives are restless and the leadership is in full panic mode ..

The Libranos: SNC Lavalin

Shiny Pony The Libranos 106 Comments

CBC;

Jody Wilson-Raybould — the former justice minister at the centre of claims that the Prime Minister’s Office pressured her to help Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution — has resigned from cabinet.
 
She tweeted a link to her resignation letter this morning.

The CBC quotes the letter only briefly, omitting some of the more interesting passages.

Oddly enough.

Related (from yesterday). Let Justin do the mansplainin’.

Sunny ways.

Oh, Shiny Librano!

Shiny Pony The Libranos 63 Comments

Pay to play. (link fixed!)

Since he became Liberal leader in April 2013, gifts to the Foundation have increased significantly. Donations went from $172,211 in 2015 to $731,753 in 2016, while foreign donations from 0 in 2007 to $535,000 in 2016.
 
Some of Canada’s largest corporations including Air Canada, BMO, Suncor and Resolute Forest Products — have sponsored Trudeau Foundation conferences. While others like Bombardier even have members of their board of directors on the board of the Trudeau Foundation.

Related! Liberals to block opposition probe into SNC Lavalin…

Update: the BLAHBLAHBLAH15MINUTESTORY Media

The Libranos: SNC Lavalin

Shiny Pony The Libranos 52 Comments

…it’s the sort of thing that can destroy governments.

I don’t know who the Globe’s sources are, and I’ve learned that attempts to guess another reporter’s sources usually miss the mark by a mile. But let me make this general observation about the Liberal Party of Canada and Justin Trudeau’s PMO. In recent months I have been increasingly critical of the PMO and especially of Trudeau’s principal secretary, Gerald Butts. Frankly it hasn’t been great fun. I don’t get a kick out of being that specific in criticisms of a government. And typically, when you say “PM’s staff,” no matter who the PM is, what you really mean is “the PM.” But the way this government hoses money around for show sickens me.
 
What I’ve noticed is that when I have been bluntly critical of Trudeau’s PMO, no Liberal in Canada, outside the PMO, has reached out to criticize me, to gently try to correct perceptions, or otherwise to suggest I’m off-track. In fact, in a large number of cases, the response has been quite the opposite. I hear things like “Thank God” and “About time” and “I’ve been loving those columns.”

Sure. Let’s check back again in October.

Update: Wilson-Raybould’s father, Bill Wilson, said in a Facebook post Thursday that his daughter’s cabinet demotion “makes sense now — ugly political sense.” He predicted “history will prove that she did the right thing.”

Related: Do you remember when that SNC-Lavalin Staffer organized that Pro-Assad Rally at Queen’s Park?

The Libranos: SNC Lavalin

Shiny Pony The Libranos 100 Comments

Globe and Mail (behind paywall);

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office attempted to press Jody Wilson-Raybould when she was justice minister to intervene in the corruption and fraud prosecution of Montreal engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., sources say, but she refused to ask federal prosecutors to make a deal with the company that could prevent a costly trial.
 
SNC-Lavalin has sought to avoid a criminal trial on fraud and corruption charges stemming from an RCMP investigation into its business dealings in Libya. Prosecutors alleged in February, 2015, that SNC paid millions of dollars in bribes to public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts. The engineering company says executives who were responsible for the wrongdoing have left the company, and it has reformed ethics and compliance rules.
 
After the charges, SNC-Lavalin lobbied officials in Ottawa, including senior members in the office of Mr. Trudeau, to secure a deal known as a “deferred prosecution agreement” or “remediation agreement” that would set aside the prosecution. In such deals, which are used in the United States and Britain, a company would accept responsibility for the wrongdoing and pay a financial penalty, relinquish benefits gained from the wrongdoing and put in place compliance measures. “It is unfair that the actions of one or more rogue employees should tarnish a company’s reputation, as well as jeopardize its future success and its employees’ livelihoods,” SNC argued in a brief to federal officials in October, 2017.
 
But in October, 2018, SNC-Lavalin hit a major obstacle. The federal director of public prosecutions refused to negotiate a remediation agreement that would have resolved the Libyan fraud and corruption charges without prosecution. SNC-Lavalin has asked for a judicial review of the decision, citing “the extremely negative consequences the underlying legal proceedings have had and will continue to have [even in the event of an acquittal] on [SNC] and innocent stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, pensioners and stakeholders, in the absence of an invitation to negotiate.”

So Jody Wilson-Raybould got shuffled out to Veterans Affairs. Huh.

@MaximeBernier – “The Lib gov amended the Criminal Code last year to help SNC-Lavalin out of its legal troubles following fraud and corruption charges. And Minister Wilson-Raybould was shuffled from her post because she would not cave in to pressure from the PMO to help the company.”

Stay tuned…

Background (from 2018).

New Libranos

The Libranos 10 Comments

Old Tricks.

For some if not most backbenchers, stocking the riding war chest is a Via Doloroso of endless, small-town, turkey-tea suppers, alternating with too-sadly-familiar cold plates of ham and potato salad, mustard-pickles-on-the-side shindigs, where the take can be in the low hundreds of dollars, and then only if the parish hall or the Legion club offers a rate, the paper plates and plastic cutlery are donated, and the local women are moved to prepare and supply the victuals gratis.
 
By comparison, Mr. Grewal’s fundraiser, held back when he was still a member of the Liberal caucus,was a blowout to end all blowouts.

h/t Nold

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