Trudeau unlikely to resign over SNC-Lavalin: expert
Posted February 27, 2019 9:34 pm.
Last Updated February 27, 2019 9:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Despite Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign over the SNC-Lavalin affair, a political scientist says it’s unlikely that will happen.
Wilson-Raybould testified today she was pressured by Trudeau and his representatives to halt the prosecution of Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.
RELATED: Jody Wilson-Raybould says she was pressured, got veiled threats on SNC-Lavalin
Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley says even though the testimony is scathing, it’s more likely Trudeau will continue his role.
“This story is going to carry on for a little while longer, and we’ll see what other revelations are made,” he says. “We’ll see what other testimony is made in terms of other people who were involved in these conversations and see if their recollections were the same as the former Attorney General’s were today.”
WATCH: Analyzing Jody Wilson-Raybould’s Testimony
Telford says it’s more likely Trudeau will wait and let people decide if they believe him by the way they vote in October’s federal election.
“He may well come to regret making a statement like that, but ultimately, he is right,” he says. “Think back to Stephen Harper’s government back in 2008 was found to be in contempt of Parliament and, shortly thereafter, we had an election and the Harper government won again. In fact, won a majority government.”
RELATED: Trudeau disagrees with Wilson-Raybould’s recounting of SNC-Lavalin events
The vote wouldn’t be on this issue alone, but rather it would be the public making a judgement about Trudeau’s entire performance and weighing it against the potential of opposition leaders to form government, he says.
“Maybe Justin Trudeau feels fairly confident that once people are making the choice between him and Andrew Scheer and Jagmeet Singh, that we’ll choose him,” he says.
If his students are any indication of who people will believe, it may not be in his favour.
Telford watched the opening statements in Wilson-Raybould’s testimony today with his students, who he says mostly believe her version of events.
