'I made no threats': Key moments from the Privy Council clerk's testimony on the SNC-Lavalin affair

MichaelWernick, the most senior public servant in the country, has denied an accusation from former justice minister and attorney generalJodyWilson-Raybouldthathe made "veiled threats" to pressure her to sign a plea bargain-like deal with the Quebec engineering firmSNC-Lavalin.

Wernickand deputy minister of justice NathalieDrouintestifiedbefore the House of Commons justicecommittee on theSNC-Lavalinmatter on Wednesday inWernick'scase, for the second time.

This wasWernick'schance to addressWilson-Raybould's claim thathe made "veiled threats" to pressure her to sign a deferred prosecution agreement(DPA) for SNC-Lavalin during a December 2018 call. She told the committee thatshe felt that her conversation with Wernickimplied a threatakin to the Watergate-era "Saturday Night Massacre" that she would, in other words,have to either comply or resign.

Wernicksaid Wednesday thatWilson-Rayboulddid not face inappropriate pressure from anyone in the Prime Minister's Office or from him personally.

Wernicksaidrather she was simply warned of the "consequences" of not signing an agreement specifically, that some of the company's 9,000 employees could lose their jobs.

1.Wernick'did not wear a wire'

While acknowledging he "did not wear a wire" or take contemporaneous notes on his conversations with the minister, and so could not definitively disprove Wilson-Raybould's testimony,Wernickinsisted he did "not threaten the attorney general."

"I have never raised partisan considerations. I reminded her repeatedly she was the final decision-maker. I was giving her relevant context. I made no threats to the former attorney general. Period," he said.

Michael Wernick: 'She was assured multiple times that she was the final decision maker.'

5 years ago

Duration 0:21

"The former minister agreed that entering into a deferred prosecution agreement was entirely lawful."

Wilson-Raybouldtestified that she reached a final conclusion on whether to pursue a DPA on Sept. 16, some 12 daysafterthe director of public prosecutionsis said tohave made a similar decision. She maintains that her decision should have ended any intervention by other ministers or political staff.

When asked byLiberal MPIqraKhalidif she thought that was sufficient time to adequately consider a DPA,Drouinsaid that was not for her to say. "She did say in her testimony that she did her due diligence. I was not part of that due diligence exercise,"Drouinsaid.

Gerald Butts, Prime Minister JustinTrudeau'sformer principal secretary,also testified Wednesday that he thought that timeline might have been too compressedfor such an importantdecision.

2. 'Lawful advocacy'

Wernicksaid Wednesday the decision could never really be considered "final" until the delivery ofa verdict in a criminal prosecution.

"It's never final. She could always take into consideration public interest considerations," Wernicksaid. "The minister experienced lawful advocacy to consider doing something lawful in the public interest."

Michael Wernick: 'The minister maintains that her decision, a decision to take no action, was final.'

5 years ago

Duration 0:52

"She had the ability, as new public interest considerations emerged, to reassess the context and re-examine her reasoning and that is the most she was ever asked to do."

KathleenRoussel, the director of public prosecutions, herself gave the case a second look in October after the company presented new evidence.

Asked if a decision on this matter is rightfully considered"final" before there is a verdict in a criminal prosecution,Drouinsaid: "It's theresponsibilityof a prosecutor to asses andreassess... in light of new facts and evidence put in front of the prosecutor."

3.Wilson-Raybouldblocks PCO report

Drouinsaid she spoke withWilson-Raybouldthe day after the minister's Sept. 17 meeting with TrudeauandWernickon the issue.

Wilson-Raybouldexpressed discomfort over the meeting,Drouinsaid, addingshe didn't have any further involvement with the file after Sept. 19 ("She asked me not to talk any more about theSNC-Lavalincase," the bureaucrat testified) with one notable exception.

At the end of October, the Privy Council Office (PCO) asked her department for advice on the potential impact onSNC-Lavalinif a deferred prosecution agreement which would have allowed the company to avoid a criminal trial on bribery charges was not pursued. That advice was "not provided to PCOat the request of the minister's office,"Drouinsaid.

"I was instructed not to send it,"Drouinsaid. "My minister was not comfortable with us sharing it to PCO."

4.Wilson-Raybouldwas told DPA was 'lawful'

In early September,Drouinsaid she briefed the former attorney general onthe possible legal options shecould pursue on theSNC-Lavalinmatter, including a DPA.

Drouindid not offer anopinion on whether a DPA was "appropriate" in this case, but said she toldWilson-RaybouldthatSNC-Lavalincould qualify for that sort of agreement if shedecided to go that route.

Michael Wernick: 'They are not a pariah, it was not improper to have conversations with the company.'

5 years ago

Duration 2:03

Conservative MP Lisa Raitt spars with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick over his communications with SNC Lavalin.

"I cannot have an opinion. To make an opinion or not on a DPA, on a specific case, you have to be aware of the evidence and I have never been aware of the evidence [against the company]," she said. "It was her decision whether or not to use her authorities under the act.

"It's not an interference because they are powers provided under the act ... We respect the parameters, the first one being consultation with (Roussel)."

5.Wernickaccused of partisanship

Wernick,a career public servant who has workedin senior roles under both Conservative and Liberal prime ministers, also defended himself against accusations from opposition parties that he acted in a partisan matter inhis last appearance before the committee. He criticized comments from Conservative Sen. DavidTkachukand onlinevitrioldirected at Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett.

Michael Wernick: 'I am profoundly disappointed to be accused of partisanship.'

5 years ago

Duration 0:54

"I set this out because it has been suggested that I am part of someone's political agenda. I serve the government of the day."

He also defended the content of his last opening statement, which included a warning that a politician could get shot during the next election campaign because of the strident nature of social media political commentary.Wernicksaid he "stands by every word" of his warning.

"I am profoundly disappointed to be accused of partisanship,"Wernicksaid. "I deplore thecyberbullyingof politicians of all stripes."

Wernick also tabled with the committee evidence of some of the attacks he said have been directed at him since he last testified. He compared some of it, tweeted by Conservative and NDP MPs, to witness intimidation.

The justice committee reconvenes March 19the day Finance Minister Bill Morneautables his next budget to debate whether to call more witnesses.