Trudeau’s SNC Scandal Resurfaces Weeks Before Canada Election
- Canada’s ethics commissioner says Trudeau interfered in case
- It’s a blow to the prime minister ahead of October vote
Justin Trudeau
Photographer: David Kawai/Bloomberg
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was plunged back into the biggest scandal of his term just two months before elections, after the nation’s ethics watchdog ruled he inappropriately interfered in a judicial matter.
In a report released Wednesday, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said Trudeau sought to pressure his former attorney general last year to help SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. settle corruption charges out of court, partly for political reasons. Since the Montreal-based engineering firm would have benefited financially from Trudeau’s efforts, the prime minister’s actions contravened conflict of interest laws, the watchdog concluded.