Thank you, Mr. Wernick, for referring to what you called, I think properly, the “precious gift” of an independent prosecutorial service.
We had a final decision by that prosecutorial service. That was on September 4, and then, on September 17, at a meeting that you told us was primarily about indigenous issues, the Prime Minister and the minister talked about SNC-Lavalin. On December 5, there was a meeting with Gerry Butts and the former attorney general as well. That we know.
Now, during that period, there were literally dozens of meetings—you've told us about some of them—that SNC-Lavalin had with people in the Prime Minister's Office and the like. My question is this. With all of that repeated lobbying of the Prime Minister's senior staff, its only purpose could have been to go over the Attorney General's head and influence the decision that she previously refused to make, that the company had asked her to make.
This is what Andrew Roman, a prominent Toronto lawyer, concluded:
There was no valid reason for either the Prime Minister or his senior staff to have initiated such a conversation with Jody Wilson-Raybould. The only reason for either of them to discuss her prosecutorial decision would be to encourage her to change it, without being seen to do so. This is damaging to the rule of law.
What do you say?