Justin Trudeau

Friday December 20, 2019

December 20, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 20, 2019

After year of political turmoil, SNC-Lavalin gets most of what it wanted in plea deal

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s failed efforts to see SNC-Lavalin avoid prosecution led to him losing two key ministers, his edge in the polls and (almost) his party’s hold on government, the Quebec engineering firm at the centre of the controversy walked away today with a plea deal that looks a lot like what it asked the government for in the first place.

August 20, 2019

A judge on Thursday accepted the plea deal that a division of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. struck with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Under the agreement, the company pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud over $5,000 in relation to the company’s activities in Libya.

All other charges have been dropped.

“We are happy. The company is happy,” said SNC-Lavalin lawyer François Fontaine. “The fact that the charges are no longer pending over the head of the company is good. The uncertainty around that kind of proceeding is bad for business, is bad for the company.

“So we’re very happy that it’s now over. We are free to bid as normal. This guilty plea does not prevent construction, or any other entity of the group, to bid on public contracts.”

April 2, 2019

After SNC-Lavalin was hit with fraud and corruption charges over its actions in Libya between 2001 and 2011, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office spoke with then justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, asking her to reconsider offering the firm a deferred prosecution agreement.

Under newly passed legislation, a deferred prosecution agreement would allow the company to avoid trial providing it paid hefty fines and continued to adhere to a number of conditions for a period of time.

Had the company been convicted in court of bribing Libyan officials — including Saadi Gadhafi, son of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi — to get lucrative government contracts, it could have been blocked from competing for federal government contracts in Canada for a decade.

“I have long believed in the essential necessity of our judicial system operating as it should — based on the rule of law and prosecutorial independence, and without political interference or pressure,” Wilson-Raybould said today on Twitter.

February 9, 2019

The allegation that Trudeau improperly tried to influence the attorney general significantly depressed the prime minister’s voter support.

Trudeau defended his actions by saying that he was trying to prevent the loss of jobs in Quebec, but the damage to the prime minister’s reputation had been done — just as federal political parties were readying themselves for a fall election.

The deal SNC-Lavalin struck to avoid trial may not have been a deferred prosecution agreement, but it resulted in almost the same outcome for the company.

All other charges were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on one charge of fraud over $5,000, plus an agreement to pay $280 million in fines and comply with a probation order for three years. (CBC) 



 

Thursday December 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 12, 2019

Two Canadians held for a year by China remain ‘resilient’

Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, were both detained on 10 December 2018.

August 23, 2019

China has accused the pair of espionage.

The move by Beijing is widely viewed as “hostage diplomacy” – a tactic to put the pressure on Canada to release Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Beijing denies the men’s cases are related to Ms Meng’s arrest in Canada last year, but supporters say the two are being used as pawns in a larger political dispute.

December 12, 2018

The Canadian government says neither man has had access to a lawyer and have been denied contact with their families and loved ones.

“Our heart goes out to the two Canadians detained in China unjustly,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

“It’s difficult to even describe this cloud, or the weight that hangs over an organisation when your colleague, your friend has been in a Chinese prison for a year,” Brittany Brown, with the International Crisis Group, Mr Kovrig’s employer, told the BBC.

March 1, 2019

“Not a day goes by that someone in Crisis Group is doing something, engaging with someone, talking with someone, pushing certain points behind the scenes to try and support the Canadian [government] efforts,” she said.

Current and past presidents from the NGO published an open letter last week calling his detention “unjust and inhumane”.

Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to Beijing, said that during a recent consular visit, Mr Kovrig asked officials: “When are you going to get me out of this mess?”

“You need to have some hope,” says Mr Saint-Jacques, who once worked with the ex-diplomat. (BBC) 

 

Tuesday December 10, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 10, 2019

SNL spoofs Justin Trudeau’s candid comments about Donald Trump

December 4, 2019

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent candid comments about U.S. President Donald Trump received the Saturday Night Live treatment, with some big-name comedians dropping in to portray Trudeau and other world leaders as cool kids teasing a clueless Trump.

Jimmy Fallon as Trudeau, Paul Rudd as French President Emmanuel Macron, and James Corden as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t let Trump sit at their table in the skit and put a sign on his back saying, “Impeach me!!!”

Nearly one week ago, Trudeau was seen standing in a huddle with Macron, Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth, at a Buckingham Palace reception for leaders at the NATO summit, joking about Trump’s long, impromptu press conferences.

“Some dismissed it as petty high school gossip,” the SNL intro begins, “but you should have seen what happened in the NATO cafeteria.”

June 27, 2016

The sketch pokes fun at Johnson’s inclusion in the caught-on-video chat, given the British prime minister’s generally closer relationship with Trump.

Rudd’s Macron tells Baldwin’s Trump that an empty seat had been promised to a friend, to which the Trump character replies that he is Johnson’s friend.

“Don’t make this harder than it already is,” Corden says, looking away. “I’m hanging out with these guys now.”

The sketch has the Trudeau character mocking Trump’s appearance and intelligence, while the Macron character tells the others to wave to Trump at the other table, “so he thinks we like him.”

“Those are my best friends,” the Trump character says. “We run this place.”

The Johnson character also makes a joke about Macron’s wife being older, and the Trump character says, “That’s good. I like when it’s mean, but not about me.”

December 20, 2016

The real Trump has seemed to shrug off the recording, calling Trudeau “two-faced,” but also overall a good guy.

Later in the show, during the Weekend Update segment, the SNL cast took one more dig at Trudeau, playing off of Trump’s “two-faced” comment.

“It’s true, I’ve definitely seen Trudeau with at least one other face,” says host Colin Jost, while displaying a 2001 picture of Trudeau wearing brownface as part of an Aladdin costume in a photo that emerged during the fall election. (CBC) 

 

Friday December 6, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 6, 2019

Trump calls Trudeau ‘two-faced’ after video showing Trudeau, NATO leaders candidly talking about Trump goes viral

March 29, 2016

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other foreign leaders have been caught on camera apparently talking candidly about U.S. President Donald Trump, with the footage now going viral and stoking fears of a backlash.

The video was shot during a reception at Buckingham Palace held Tuesday night in London, where leaders from NATO’s 29 countries are marking the 70th anniversary of the military alliance with two days of meetings and discussions.

In it, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson can be heard asking French President Emmanuel Macron why he was late, to which Trudeau says: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”

The leaders do not use Trump’s name, but the U.S. president took dozens of questions from journalists on Tuesday during impromptu news conferences at the start of his individual meetings with Macron, Trudeau and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

April 13, 2018

Trump responded to Trudeau’s comments at another news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday afternoon, calling Trudeau “two-faced.” He immediately followed the comment saying “he’s a nice guy,” but suggested Trudeau might not be happy that Trump called him out for not paying enough to NATO.

An impromptu news conference with Trump and Trudeau on Tuesday lasted more than half an hour, which included questions about China, the impeachment process and also saw the Canadian prime minister deflecting questions from the U.S. president about Canada’s defence spending.

July 7, 2017

The reception footage also shows Trudeau talking about “his team’s jaws drop to the floor,” though the subject isn’t clear.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trudeau is scheduled to hold a news conference at the end of the NATO summit on Wednesday.

The footage, shot by the British host’s pool camera, has since spread across the internet and been broadcast by international media such as Fox News and the New York Times, with observers suggesting Trudeau and the other leaders were mocking Trump. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Wednesday December 4, 2019

December 4, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 4, 2019

Trump calls Trudeau ‘two-faced’ after candid video

April 11, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “two-faced” after a video went viral of the Canadian leader apparently speaking candidly to other world leaders about Trump.

“Well he’s two-faced,” the president said on Wednesday, when asked about the conversation in which Trudeau seemed to make reference to the president’s lengthy, unplanned media availability the day before.

Trump went on to speculate about Trudeau’s motivation for engaging in the gossip – namely, Canada’s failure to meet the recommended defence spending target of 2 per cent of gross domestic product.

June 9, 2018

“Trudeau, he’s a nice guy. I find him to be a nice guy, but the truth is, I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying 2 per cent, and I guess he’s not very happy about it. I mean, you were there. A couple of you were there,” Trump told reporters.

“He should be paying more than he’s paying. And he understands it. So I can imagine he’s not that happy. But that’s the way it is.”

In the video, Trudeau was speaking to French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Princess Anne, daughter of the Queen.

February 9, 2016

The video, which was shot during a reception at Buckingham Palace late Tuesday, shows Johnson asking Macron why he was late. In response, Trudeau quips, “he was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”

Though the president is never mentioned by name, Trump had taken multiple questions from journalists during an unscheduled news conference ahead of meetings with Trudeau, Macron, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

July 12, 2018

Trudeau went on to say, without a clear context, that “You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”

The gossiping and name-calling comes in stark contrast to the mood between the two world leaders yesterday, when Trump said of Trudeau that it was “an honour to be with a friend,” and touted their “very good relationship.”

The prime minister echoed Trump’s sentiments, saying the relationship between Canada and the United States is “is incredibly strong, I don’t think it’s ever been stronger.” (CTV News)