Mr. Speaker, I did listen attentively to the hon. member's speech. The main crux of his argument I think it would be fair to say is that the Prime Minister has a responsibility to look out for Canadian jobs. That is fair enough. I do not think anybody would dispute that the Prime Minister of Canada should be concerned about Canadian jobs but there are also other important principles at play, even in the legislation that lays out the possibility of establishing deferred prosecution agreements of the type that someone suggested SNC-Lavalin should get.
The legislation has a section “Factors not to consider” and that section reads:
Despite paragraph (2)(i), if the organization is alleged to have committed an offence under section 3 or 4 of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, the prosecutor must not consider the national economic interest, the potential effect on relations with a state other than Canada or the identity of the organization or individual involved.
Beyond that, it is up to the independent prosecutor to make that decision. The prosecutor made that determination. The former attorney general was clear that she had made a decision not to interfere with that, and the Prime Minister and his officials continued to pressure her to reverse that decision. That is the problem here and it goes beyond the Prime Minister's responsibility to be a defender of Canadian jobs.