TORONTO/OTTAWA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that his former justice minister asked him if he was going to offer direction over whether construction company SNC-Lavalin SNC.TO should face a corruption trial and he told her "absolutely not."
Jody Wilson-Raybould quit Trudeau's cabinet unexpectedly on Tuesday after a newspaper reported she had been pressured by the prime minister's team to go easy on SNC-Lavalin last year when she was justice minister and attorney general. was shuffled to Veteran Affairs in January, a move widely seen as a demotion for one of Canada's most prominent indigenous federal politicians.
"In terms of giving any direction, she asked me if I would do that and I said no, absolutely not. It's your decision to make," Trudeau told reporters at an event in an Ottawa suburb.
Wilson-Raybould has not commented on the matter, citing solicitor-client privilege. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
On Wednesday, a Liberal-led parliamentary committee rejected an opposition bid to question Wilson-Raybould and senior officials about the allegations of political interference, which are becoming a problem for Trudeau ahead of a fall election. week the Globe and Mail reported that officials in Trudeau's office urged Wilson-Raybould to allow SNC-Lavalin to avoid a corruption trial on charges of bribing Libyan officials, and escape with a fine instead.
The company is seeking to avoid a corruption trial because it says the executives accused of wrongdoing have left the company and it has overhauled ethics and compliance systems.