(Photo: UPEI)
A political science professor at UPEI says the explosive testimony from Jody Wilson-Raybould surrounding the SNC-Lavalin scandal could have a negative impact on Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government in the next election.
But Don Desserud says at this point, we are just getting two interpretations of what happened.
“It’s kind of a ‘he said, she said’ situation. My guess is that the Liberal government and the prime minister will think they can weather this storm – withstand the pressure – and hopefully recover in time for the election.”
In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould said she came under relentless pressure, including veiled threats, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his senior staff, the top public servant and the finance minister’s office to stop a criminal prosecution of Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
Desserud says the decision to waive the solicitor-client privilege to enable Wilson-Raybould to speak was a strategic one by the Liberals.
But he suspects they underestimated how well she would be able to state her case.
Desserud adds it’s hard to predict how bad the repercussions will be but this is definitely not good for the current government.
