It’s the Liberal Party — Not Wilson-Raybould — that has acted “unconscionably”

OTTAWA — A chronology of events in the SNC-Lavalin controversy:Feb. 19, 2015 – The RCMP lays corruption and fraud charges against Montreal-based engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin, over allegations it used bribery to get government business in Libya.

Source: Timeline: SNC-Lavalin and Jody Wilson-Raybould | National Post

What bothers me about the ousting of Jodi Wilson-Raybould from the Liberal caucus is the rhetoric — that somehow she was the unethical one for recording the Clerk, that her actions of late smell of sour grapes and that she is somehow being a vindictive sore loser.

And time does not permit me to apply an intersectional lens and discuss the implications of the departure of three key players — all women, two of them BIPOC — and how those facts play into all of this — the idea of being loyal, the idea of being trustworthy (or the supposed lack thereof).

I think it quite rich of the Liberal party — the main actor of the sponsorship scandal a few years back and the author of this current scandal — to talk about one’s lack of ethics. JWR is not the “bad guy” here. I too, like JWR, believe in the doctrines of the “rule of law” and CYA (“cover your ass”). Especially when you’re a woman. Especially when you’re Indigenous. Unfortunately also when you’re the Attorney General. Why? People will call your credibility into question.

It is concerning that one can be (will be) penalized for choosing to remain loyal to Canadians and the rule of law over party and partisanship. This, and to allege that JWR is doing this all for personal/political gain, is what I consider to be truly “unconscionable.”

I appreciate this analysis from Joe Richards:

“Leaks abound in the PMO. Is anyone concerned? Oh, I guess there’s only selective outrage over confidentiality. But I digress…re motives, JWR/JP are not perfect and should not be considered for sainthood. However the continuous smears by anonymous sources suggest there could be some nefarious motives. Instead they prove the PMO is uninterested in truth & only want to muddy the waters…and some in the press are facilitating this lack of accountability.

Four observations :

1. Initial Silence: No bombshell press conferences. No stream of tweets, pot shots or smears, nada. Silence. Deafening silence. Hardly the profile of power-hungry, destructive, non-team players

2. No floor crossing: Emerson, Khan, Stronach…all crossed to gain more influence. The CPC would have rolled out the red carpet (& then some) to pluck 2 Trudeau cabinet ministers (maybe 3 with C3?) They could have demanded anything short of party leader. Perfect timing too #Election2019. Nope. They have consistently defended the Liberal agenda since Feb. 7th. Booted from caucus, their bargaining power is greatly diminished now.

3. “Secret” Recording: People record because of disability, bad memory, self-preservation, or entrapment. In JWR’s case it was clearly self-preservation. The call reveals no egregious leading questions. She explicitly denied any crimes were committed by PMO. Sure, there are some self-serving statements on the tape but if JWR wanted to inflict maximum damage, she failed miserably. She didn’t disclose it immediately. She didn’t leak it to the media. She sent it to committee, well after her initial testimony. Only when the facts were challenged and the committee made clear they weren’t calling her back….then and only then did she submit it. Irrefutable, reliable evidence.

4. End Game: This is the biggest clue that JWR/JP are genuine and credible. No one knows their plans. Nothing obvious & grand awaits them. Why would vain narcissists choose the hard path?”