A confidential interview with a former Trudeau minister called on the RCMP to investigate the SNC-Lavalin scandal more closely to no avail. Pleas by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould were ignored, new records show.

“There are more people that you guys need to talk to than me,” Wilson-Raybould told the RCMP. “There is a lot more information out there that I wasn’t privy to.” Her remarks from the September 10, 2019 interview were obtained by Democracy Watch, an ethics watchdog, as part of an Access To Information request.

The federal police service only interviewed four persons of interest, including Wilson-Raybould. They did not interview Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

New details have emerged from the SNC-Lavalin scandal as MPs learned the RCMP never interviewed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before concluding their investigation.https://t.co/L9I7qCG8Se

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 28, 2024

RCMP top brass also did not pursue criminal charges for the alleged coverup, though interference allegations emerged against Trudeau’s staff in February of 2019.

The Prime Minister and his aides arranged some 49 separate meetings and phone calls to discuss the company’s legal troubles and save it from criminal prosecution, revealed a 2021 ethics report. The PMO reportedly urged Wilson-Raybould not to investigate SNC-Lavalin during one of the said meetings.

The Montreal construction firm appeared to benefit from a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid a criminal prosecution that year, paying more than $280 million in fines.

The Mounties “never considered prosecuting anyone for breach of trust,” Democracy Watch, an ethics watchdog, said in a prior statement. As part of evidence detailing sketchy business practices, executives admitted to paying $47.7 million in bribes to win contracts in Libya.

Documents @DemocracyWatchr disclose ex-Attorney General told RCMP to go beyond the obvious in delving into SNC-Lavalin scandal: "There are more people you guys need to talk to."  https://t.co/D5UlPatqQL #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Gj8EQXoXw2

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) February 19, 2025

RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme and Sergeant Frédéric Pincince, who oversaw the investigation, had “limited” access to information concerning the scandal, they claimed. 

The federal police service applied to obtain a search warrant to access confidential cabinet documents relevant to the case, but the Privy Council Office denied their request.

Both figures said they did everything possible to pursue criminal charges, though Democracy Watch questioned their thoroughness.

“The evidence clearly shows the RCMP is a negligently weak lapdog that rolled over for Trudeau by doing a very superficial investigation into his cabinet’s obstruction of the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin,” said the watchdog.

The Mounties subsequently acknowledged they never sought a warrant for records withheld by cabinet, reported Blacklock’s.

Even Justin Trudeau has lost count of his scandals. Watch him fumble as he responds to Pierre Poilievre's question about a criminal investigation into SNC Lavalin before reciting a talking point about an ongoing ArriveCAN app investigation. pic.twitter.com/HEA4TnSvrh

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) October 26, 2023

One Conservative MP suggested Trudeau “covered up his obstruction of justice.” Another claimed to not know of any investigation where the person of interest was not interviewed.

“Is there an overall general reluctance in charging a sitting Prime Minister?” asked Conservative MP Larry Brock. “I would say to that, we follow the evidence and if the evidence warrants charges, we charge,” replied Duheme in testimony last year.

“We approach every investigation in the same manner.”

The Mounties in a 2021 Access To Information memo admitted to receiving political pressure on the matter but considered it harmless, adding there must be more than a technical violation to pursue criminal charges. 

“Did the RCMP obtain all relevant documents to further the investigation?” asked MP Brock. “We were limited with the information that we had access to,” replied Duheme.

“Is that a yes or no, sir?” he asked again. “I don’t know,” replied Duheme. “We didn’t know. We don’t know, we still don’t know to this day all the information that is out there.”

According to an RCMP report, the federal police service could not pursue corruption charges against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his role in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.https://t.co/0ZyrSpfcxg

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) October 17, 2023

A former Trudeau staffer earlier divulged details on the scandal after the RCMP refused to interview the Prime Minister. 

“Has the RCMP contacted you regarding Justin Trudeau’s role in the SNC-Lavalin scandal?” asked Conservative MP Michael Barrett. “They have not,” replied Michael Wernick, a former clerk of the privy council.

Wernick clarified the RCMP enquired on his federal lobbying activities after he retired in April of 2019. “Never prior and never after,”

Wilson-Raybould, meanwhile, was shuffled from the justice portfolio to Veteran Affairs. She left cabinet after then-ethics commissioner Mario Dion launched an investigation.

It cost the Liberal Party 20 seats and a majority government in the 2019 general election.

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