Her message was clear: Just as it is wrong to mistreat Indigenous defendants, it is wrong to single out a defendant for special treatment
Near the end of her testimony to the Commons justice committee earlier this week, former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould offered up a hint on why she never pushed prosecutors to settle their criminal case against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
As the first Indigenous attorney general in Canada, Wilson-Raybould likely felt pressure to create a justice system that upholds higher values, such as fairness, and one that is not subject to political whims, he said.He added that her values are probably informed by her experiences in the Big House — a parallel parliamentary and justice system in her Indigenous community in British Columbia.
During her testimony, Wilson-Raybould said prosecutors decided not to invite SNC into settlement negotiations, also known as a remediation or deferred prosecution agreement, and outlined their reasons in a memo, which she did not disclose. Borrows said there was a clear message in her statements: Just as it is wrong to mistreat Indigenous defendants, it is wrong to single out a defendant for special treatment because the justice system needs to be totally evenhanded.
Under the legislation passed that allows remediation settlements, prosecutors can consider whether a company is eligible based on a number of factors including if its crimes were self-reported and how far up the crimes reached.
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