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Democracy Watch Applies for Private Prosecution of Trudeau in SNC Scandal

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3 minute read

Sam Cooper

Democracy Watch, a transparency advocate, announced today that it has filed an application in the Ontario Court of Justice seeking approval to pursue a private prosecution of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould in 2018 to halt the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

The application reportedly includes a legal opinion by a retired superior court justice—issued on condition of anonymity—supporting charges of obstruction of justice and possibly breach of trust. The group alleges that the RCMP failed to investigate the matter properly, allowing Trudeau’s office to avoid scrutiny.

“The RCMP conducted a very superficial investigation into the Cabinet’s interference,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “They didn’t interview many key witnesses or obtain critical Cabinet records, then decided not to prosecute anyone behind closed doors. We believe a judge must see this evidence in open court.”

Newly released RCMP transcripts indicate that senior officials, including Trudeau’s then-Principal Secretary Gerald Butts, repeatedly pressed Wilson-Raybould to override prosecutors and grant SNC-Lavalin a Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Jessica Prince, Wilson-Raybould’s Chief of Staff, told investigators that she rebuffed persistent calls from Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s Chief of Staff, Ben Chin, who insisted there had to be a “middle ground.” Prince also accused PMO adviser Mathieu Bouchard of interference, claiming that he tied the government’s reelection hopes in Quebec to SNC-Lavalin’s fate.

Democracy Watch’s “will say” document alleges that the RCMP applied an improper legal standard for obstruction of justice and never considered breach of trust. “Private prosecutions let citizens act when authorities fail to,” said Jen Danch of Swadron Associates, which represents Democracy Watch. The group contends that the RCMP relied on self-interested public statements, omitted key witness interviews—including those with Jane Philpott—and accepted the Cabinet’s refusal to disclose pivotal communications. Conacher called for a public inquiry into why the RCMP “covered up” its investigation and demanded reforms to ensure the force’s independence.

The SNC-Lavalin affair broke in early 2019, prompting the resignations of Wilson-Raybould and then-Treasury Board President Jane Philpott. It contributed to the Liberals losing their majority in the 2019 federal election and continues to reverberate, with renewed attention on Trudeau’s inner circle and potential successors.

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2025 Federal Election

Mark Carney refuses to clarify 2022 remarks accusing the Freedom Convoy of ‘sedition’

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Mark Carney described the Freedom Convoy as an act of ‘sedition’ and advocated for the government to use its power to crush the non-violent protest movement.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney refused to elaborate on comments he made in 2022 referring to the anti-mandate Freedom Convoy protest as an act of “sedition” and advocating for the government to put an end to the movement.

“Well, look, I haven’t been a politician,” Carney said when a reporter in Windsor, Ontario, where a Freedom Convoy-linked border blockade took place in 2022, asked, “What do you say to Canadians who lost trust in the Liberal government back then and do not have trust in you now?”

“I became a politician a little more than two months ago, two and a half months ago,” he said. “I came in because I thought this country needed big change. We needed big change in the economy.”

Carney’s lack of an answer seems to be in stark contrast to the strong opinion he voiced in a February 7, 2022, column published in the Globe & Mail at the time of the convoy titled, “It’s Time To End The Sedition In Ottawa.”

In that piece, Carney wrote that the Freedom Convoy was a movement of “sedition,” adding, “That’s a word I never thought I’d use in Canada. It means incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.”

Carney went on to claim in the piece that if “left unchecked” by government authorities, the Freedom Convoy would “achieve” its “goal of undermining our democracy.”

Carney even targeted “[a]nyone sending money to the Convoy,” accusing them of “funding sedition.”

Internal emails from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) eventually showed that his definition of sedition were not in conformity with the definition under Canada’s Criminal Code, which explicitly lists the “use of force” as a necessary aspect of sedition.

“The key bit is ‘use of force,’” one RCMP officer noted in the emails. “I’m all about a resolution to this and a forceful one with us victorious but, from the facts on the ground, I don’t know we’re there except in a small number of cases.”

The reality is that the Freedom Convoy was a peaceful event of public protest against COVID mandates, and not one protestor was charged with sedition. However, the Liberal government, then under Justin Trudeau, did take an approach similar to the one advocated for by Carney, invoking the Emergencies Act to clear-out protesters. Since then, a federal judge has ruled that such action was “not justified.”

Despite this, the two most prominent leaders of the Freedom Convoy, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, still face a possible 10-year prison sentence for their role in the non-violent assembly. LifeSiteNews has reported extensively on their trial.

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2025 Federal Election

Fight against carbon taxes not over yet

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By Franco Terrazzano 

As the federal government removes the consumer carbon tax, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on all party leaders to oppose all carbon taxes, including the hidden tax on business.

“Canadians fought hard to force Ottawa to back down on its consumer carbon tax and now the fight moves to stopping the hidden carbon tax on business,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Canadians can’t afford a carbon tax on business that pushes up prices at the gas station and makes it harder for our businesses to compete while they’re already struggling with a trade war.”

Today, the federal government cut the consumer carbon tax rate to $0. This will reduce taxes by about 17 cents per litre of gasoline, 21 cents per litre of diesel and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas.

The federal government still imposes an industrial carbon tax on oil and gas, steel and fertilizer businesses, among others.

During the Liberal Party leadership race, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would “improve and tighten” the industrial carbon tax and “extend the framework to 2035.”

Just 12 per cent of Canadians believe businesses pay most of the cost of the industrial carbon tax, according to a Leger poll commissioned by the CTF. Meanwhile, 70 per cent said businesses would pass most or some carbon tax costs on to consumers.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will “repeal the entire carbon tax law, including the tax on Canadian businesses and industries.”

“Carbon taxes on refineries make gas more expensive, carbon taxes on utilities make home heating more expensive and carbon taxes on fertilizer plants increase costs for farmers and that makes groceries more expensive,” Terrazzano said. “Canadians know Poilievre will end all carbon taxes and Canadians know Carney’s carbon tax costs won’t be zero.

“Carney owes Canadians a clear answer: How much will your carbon tax cost?”

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