{"id":9873,"date":"2019-03-13T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=9873"},"modified":"2019-03-13T08:00:37","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T11:00:37","slug":"samson-says-ministers-should-expect-pressure-to-be-lobbied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=9873","title":{"rendered":"Samson says Ministers should expect pressure, to be lobbied"},"content":{"rendered":"

FALL RIVER: <\/strong>Darrell Samson didn\u2019t mince words when asked for reaction to the testimony by former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould before the Justice Committee in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

The Liberal MP for Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook, unlike some MPs and Cabinet members, wasn\u2019t afraid to answer questions about the comments she said, including comments she said that felt like \u201cveiled threats\u201d and were political interference.<\/p>\n

Wilson-Raybould testified before the House of Commons justice committee on Feb. 27, documenting in fine detail what she described as a campaign by senior members of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office to pressure her to reach an agreement with SNC-Lavalin to help the engineering firm avoid criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

She described what she considered an inappropriate attempt by political staffers, and even the most senior bureaucrat in the country, Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, to pressure her to overrule the director of public prosecutions and negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with SNC-Lavalin. The DPA would allow the company to avoid a trial over allegations it used bribery to secure government contracts in Libya.<\/p>\n

The former justice minister told the committee she believed the sustained pressure was inappropriate, but that it wasn\u2019t illegal. She also said there were \u201cveiled threats.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

\"\"
Darrell Samson, the Liberal MP for Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook, unlike other MPs and Cabinet members, wasn\u2019t afraid to answer questions about the comments former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould said regarding the SNC-Lavalin affair. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Samson said it\u2019s not an easy situation, but the responsibility of MPs are to focus on the job at hand, running the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should note that she did state in her testimony that the Prime Minister told her several times that it was her decision to take,\u201d said Samson. \u201cThat is very important. She did say that the PMO\u2019s office indicated it did not want to cross the line, and finally she said there was nothing, in her opinion, that was illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that piece and the Ethics Commission doing their work, which is an independent part of Parliament, and the Justice Committee doing interviews, there is lots of information being provided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something on the side, that is very important don\u2019t get me wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Seniors Minister Filomena Tassi was in Truro and the Halifax area on March 7 and March 8. The Laker<\/em> asked her to respond following a speech she gave at an International Women\u2019s Day event at the Sackville Legion to what Wilson-Raybould said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this situation I\u2019m saddened that both Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have made the decision to leave cabinet,\u201d said Tassi. \u201cI recognize the contributions that they have made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the initiatives that PM Trudeau are undertaking in this situation are commendable and look forward to moving forward. I think we as a government need to continue the great work we are doing for Canadians. That is going to be what my focus is.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to have her backing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am confident in our Prime Minister,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tassi said PM Trudeau has come out with a statement, which he underscored how there was an \u201cerosion of trust\u201d and a \u201cbreakdown in communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s committed to get outside advice in order to correct what has happened, so that it\u2019s not repeated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Samson said when you\u2019re a Minister of a department one should expect to be lobbied.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be lobbied, and there\u2019s going to be pressure and there should be pressure,\u201d said Samson, who calls Fall River home. \u201cI can tell you that in my job as MP for this area I have met various Ministers on many occasions on many different projects on how they\u2019re important to my communities, and how we they can make this happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was Minister tomorrow morning I would sincerely want you, and any constituents or any of the 338 MPs across Canada I would want you to tell me everything so I can do a full analysis to make the decision I should make.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is just politicking by calling for Trudeau\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s wishing, but it ain\u2019t going to happen,\u201d said Samson.<\/p>\n

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen was asked by The Laker<\/em> for his reaction on Wilson-Raybould\u2019s testimony when he visited Fall River in early March. He said he was busy and had not heard what the former Attorney General had to say<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FALL RIVER: Darrell Samson didn\u2019t mince words when asked for reaction to the testimony by former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould before the Justice Committee in Ottawa. The Liberal MP for Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook, unlike some MPs and Cabinet members, wasn\u2019t afraid to answer questions about the comments she said, including comments she said that felt like \u201cveiled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[93,2,362,363,264,364],"class_list":["post-9873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-darrell-samson","tag-fall-river","tag-federal-government","tag-jody-wilson-raybould","tag-politics","tag-trudeau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}