The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development is monitoring the allegations the Liberal government tried to influence a criminal prosecution against SNC-Lavalin to determine whether Canada is violating its commitment to an international anti-bribery convention.
The OECD's working group on bribery said in a statement Monday that it is "concerned" by accusations that Trudeau and staff in his office tried to get former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to let the Quebec engineering giant negotiate a remediation agreement rather than pursue the firm on criminal charges of bribery and fraud.
The statement says Canada's commitment under the convention is to "prosecutorial independence in foreign bribery cases," and that political factors such as national economic interests and the identities of the company or individuals involved should have no influence on the prosecution. The thrust of the controversy surrounds a decision by the director of public prosecutions not to use a new law in Canada to put off a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in favour of a remediation agreement . Under such an agreement the firm would admit wrongdoing, pay financial penalties and allow outside monitoring, and if it fulfilled its end of the agreement the prosecution would eventually be dropped.
Trudeau and his staff say their only concern was for SNC-Lavalin's 9,000 jobs, which might be at risk if the company were convicted and then barred from bidding on federal contracts for up to 10 years. They deny exerting any improper influence on Wilson-Raybould and say she did not get shuffled over it.
The justice committee has already heard from 10 witnesses, including Wilson-Raybould and Butts, and is set to meet again Wednesday to discuss additional witnesses to call.
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