賈斯廷·特魯多于2015年當選加拿大總理時,承諾在政治上保持開放、盡責和透明。不過短短一個月,他的聲譽跌至谷底。
特魯多是曾經在任16年的前總理皮埃爾·特魯多的兒子,他取得了很多成績:加拿大失業率40年來最低、工資增長10年來最快,債務與GDP之比在七國集團中最低。
但特魯多被指控干涉聯邦刑事案件調查,這宗仍在發酵的政治丑聞正在撕裂他的內閣,在野黨還要求他辭職。
到底出了什么事?
特魯多及其高級助手被控向時任加拿大總檢察長、司法部長喬迪·威爾遜-雷布爾德施壓,要求其在加拿大工程公司巨頭SNC-蘭萬靈(SNC-Lavalin)被訴案中網開一面。
威爾遜-雷布爾德說,向她施壓的高級政府官員主要來自于特魯多辦公室,他們要求她命令檢方與SNC-蘭萬靈達成庭外和解。SNC-蘭萬靈公司總部設在蒙特利爾,所在的魁北克省具有十分重要的政治地位。
她補充說,特魯多稱必須要找到解決方案,否則可能會失去很多工作崗位,而SNC-蘭萬靈可能會把總部從蒙特利爾遷至倫敦。
與此同時,如果這起涉嫌欺詐和腐敗的案件達成了庭外和解,SNC-蘭萬靈可以免于長達十年的加拿大政府合同競標禁令,政府合同占該公司收入的很大一部分。
威爾遜-雷布爾德回復道,如果檢察官決定不庭外和解,她不會對此進行干涉。后來她于1月辭去司法部長職務,出任退伍軍人事務部長,后又于2月徹底辭去內閣職務。2月初,多倫多的《環球郵報》(Globe and Mail)首次報道了這一丑聞。
據《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)報道,威爾遜-雷布爾德在2月底向議會委員會作證時說:“我受到了來自于政府內部許多人持續不斷的壓力,他們試圖用政治干涉起訴裁量權。”
針對SNC-蘭萬靈的指控是什么?
加拿大檢察機關2015年指控這家在全球各地擁有5萬名雇員的公司涉嫌腐敗和欺詐,有關指控和該公司2001年至2011年間在利比亞的活動有關。SNC-蘭萬靈的行政人員被控向穆阿邁爾·卡扎菲手下的利比亞官員行賄4800萬加元,以拿下當地的合同。在加拿大國內,該公司的一位前任首席執行官于本月認罪,涉及蒙特利爾醫院建設的賄賂丑聞指控屬實。
特魯多怎么說?
據《衛報》(Guardian)報道,特魯多并沒有否認他和助手曾經就SNC-蘭萬靈案與威爾遜-雷布爾德進行過交談,但聲稱他們的討論在規定的范圍內。
據《紐約時報》(New York Times)報道,特魯多在周一的自由黨集會上說:“我知道菲爾波特女士已經考慮了一段時間。雖然失望,但我理解她的決定。”他補充道,這起政治爭議事件“引發了重要討論”,還說“還有更多的問題需要回答,未來幾天和幾周內還有更多的話要說。”
現在是什么情況?
2月11日,加拿大道德規范專員對上述干涉事件展開聯邦調查。2月18日,特魯多最親密的顧問、多年老友杰拉德·巴茨辭職,他還于周三在議會委員會作證。
事情的最新發展是,特魯多曾經最親密的盟友之一、財政委員會主席簡·菲爾波特于周一辭職,稱她對政府失去了信心。
很遺憾,我要從這個職責重大的崗位上辭職。我必須遵守我的核心價值觀、道德責任和憲法義務。遵循一個人的原則行事可能會付出代價,但放棄這些原則會產生更大的代價。pic.twitter.com/EwO5dtdgG6
— 簡·菲爾波特(@janephilpott) ,2019年3月4日
會影響特魯多2019年選舉嗎?
特魯多要參加10月選舉,謀求連任。他需要得到魁北克的支持才能獲勝,如果SNC-蘭萬靈裁減工作崗位,將影響他取勝的幾率。《華爾街日報》報道稱,該丑聞曝光以來,民調顯示特魯多和自由黨政府支持率正在下降,在野黨保守黨處于領先地位。保守黨黨首安德魯·希爾于星期一再次呼吁特魯多下臺。
賈斯廷·特魯多對司法進行了前所未有的政治干預,他不能再繼續擔任總理。上周,我說他已經不再具備領導人所需要的道德權威。今天,特魯多核心圈子里的一名高級成員也得出了同樣的結論。我的聲明:https://t.co/lNe7DbQO5s pic.twitter.com/yIXZLX4J6M
— 安德魯·希爾 (@AndrewScheer),2019年3月5日(財富中文網) 譯者:Agatha |
When he was first elected as Canada’s prime minister in 2015, Justin Trudeau promised openness, accountability and transparency in politics. In just one month, that reputation has been all but lost.
Trudeau, the son of 16-year former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, has a lot going for him: Canada has the lowest levels of unemployment in 40 years, the fastest growing wages in a decade and the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio among the G7 nations.
But the current political scandal, in which Trudeau is accused of meddling in a federal criminal investigation, is tearing his cabinet apart as opposition leaders call for his resignation.
What’s going on, exactly?
Trudeau and his top aides are accused of pressuring Jody Wilson-Raybould, then Canadian attorney general and justice minister, to go easy on the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a major Canadian engineering firm.
Wilson-Raybould said senior government officials, mostly from Trudeau’s office, pressured her to order prosecutors to cut a plea deal with SNC-Lavalin, which is based in Montreal in the politically important province of Quebec.
She added that Trudeau said a solution must be found because otherwise many jobs could be lost, and SNC-Lavalin could move its headquarters from Montreal to London.
At the same time a plea deal in the fraud and corruption case would have allowed SNC-Lavalin to avoid a decade-long ban on bidding on government contracts in Canada, which make up a significant portion of the company’s revenue.
In response, Wilson-Raybould said she wasn’t going to interfere in a decision by prosecutors to not pursue a plea deal. She then resigned from her justice posts in January and became minister of veterans affairs, before resigning from the Cabinet altogether in February. Toronto’s Globe and Mail first reported on the scandal at the beginning of February.
“I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion,” Wilson-Raybould testified before a parliamentary committee at the end of February, the Wall Street Journal reports.
What are the charges against SNC-Lavalin?
Canadian prosecutors filed corruption and fraud charges against SNC-Lavalin, which employs 50,000 workers worldwide, in 2015 related to activity in Libya from 2001 to 2011. Its officials are accused of bribing Libyan officials under Muammar Qaddafi with C$48 million to secure contracts there. Back home in Canada, a former CEO pleaded guilty this month to charges related to a bribery scandal involving the construction of a Montreal hospital.
What does Trudeau say?
Trudeau has not denied that he and aides spoke to Wilson-Raybould about the SNC-Lavalin case, the Guardian reports, but claims their discussions were within the bounds of the rules.
At a Liberal Party rally on Monday, per the New York Times, Trudeau said, “I know that Ms. Philpott has felt this way for some time. While I’m disappointed, I understand her decision.” He added that the political controversy “has generated important discussion” and said, “there are more questions to be answered and more to be said in the coming days and weeks.”
What’s happening now?
Canada’s Ethics Commissioner launched a federal investigation into the alleged interference on February 11. Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s closest adviser and a longtime friend, resigned on February 18 and is scheduled to testify before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
In a new development, Treasury Board President Jane Philpott —once one of Trudeau’s closest allies — resigned on Monday, saying she had lost confidence in the government.
It grieves me to resign from a portfolio where I was at work to deliver an important mandate. I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations. There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them. pic.twitter.com/EwO5dtdgG6
— Jane Philpott (@janephilpott) March 4, 2019
Will this affect Trudeau’s chances in the 2019 election?
Trudeau is up for re-election in October. He needs to carry Quebec to win, and SNC-Lavalin’s potential loss of jobs there would have been a blow to his chances. WSJ reports that polling since the scandal emerged indicates Trudeau and the Liberal government are bleeding support and the opposition Conservatives are holding a lead. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer repeated his call for Trudeau to step down on Monday.
Justin Trudeau cannot continue as PM given his unprecedented political interference in the course of justice. Last week, I said he had lost the moral authority to govern. Today, a senior member of his inner circle came to the same conclusion. My statement: https://t.co/lNe7DbQO5s pic.twitter.com/yIXZLX4J6M
— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) March 5, 2019 |