Evidence of meeting #137 for Justice and Human Rights in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was meeting.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Prior to that, before you had reached out to any of the new people being appointed, was there no discussion whatsoever about deferred prosecutions or SNC?
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you.
When the Prime Minister spoke to Ms. Wilson-Raybould and advised her of changes to cabinet, was there any suggestion at that point that she did not have confidence in the Prime Minister?
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
On the day that the Prime Minister actually called her to inform her of her new position, there was no suggestion that she had no confidence in the Prime Minister.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Before Ms. Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet, did she ever suggest to you that she did not have confidence in the Prime Minister?
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you.
Now, if we could go back to the issue of obtaining a legal opinion or perhaps retaining an expert, during the period that you served in the Prime Minister's Office, for three years, were there other incidences of new legislation or a new legal regime being considered or contemplated in which the Prime Minister's Office decided to obtain a legal opinion?
11:55 a.m.
As an Individual
I'm sure there were. It's pretty standard operating procedure, in my view.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
I would think so.
You said that the first you heard about the need to obtain outside legal counsel was that it was one of the recommendations that was made by the Department of Justice.
11:55 a.m.
As an Individual
I'm not sure I would.... It's been a long time since I read that memo, Mr. Ehsassi, so I don't want to be categorical about this.
I don't know if it was a recommendation or an option or.... Since we seem to be having a bit of a Jesuitical discussion about fine definitions, I don't want to say something that is incorrect.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Would you mind telling us one more time why you thought it was a good idea to obtain outside legal expertise?
11:55 a.m.
As an Individual
Sure.
I thought that in a case like this, when so many people's livelihoods were at stake—and this was a shared view—that it was an obligation of the government to make sure that we availed ourselves of every...that we took a really hard look at it, because when you go knock on your doors on the weekend, you wanted to be able to look employees of the company, pensioners, the supply chain, in the eye and say, “We gave this a good hard look.”
That was all that was motivating us. It was the people involved.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Absolutely. Thank you for that.
In your opening remarks, you also said that the first time you heard that the Attorney General had made up her mind on this issue on September 16 or 17 was last week during the course of her testimony. Is that correct?
Noon
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Given that you were not aware of that, would it be fair to say that your expectation was that she would consult with other departments?
Noon
As an Individual
I want to be really careful here, Mr. Ehsassi, and I think Ms. Raitt alluded to this earlier. I don't have any sense of what is in the section 13 order, nor should I—that would be inappropriate for me—but we thought that broad consultation was really appropriate.
Noon
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
I take it that you are familiar with “Open and Accountable Government”.
Noon
As an Individual
I am indeed, yes. Pages 66 and 67, I believe, cover this subject.
Noon
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
You've had an opportunity to read the various passages that would be relevant to this particular case.
Noon
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
The first passage actually says that “...it is appropriate for the Attorney General to consult with Cabinet colleagues before exercising his or her powers under the DPP Act in respect of any criminal proceedings, in order to fully assess the public policy considerations....”
What does that particular passage tell you?