PM wasn't briefed on Wilson-Raybould's concerns due to holiday break, says Wernick's lawyer

Canada's top civil servant didn't brief Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a secretly recorded phone conversation with then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould about SNC-Lavalin because everyone "went on holidays the next day," according to his lawyer.

A statement released on Saturday bythe lawyer forMichael Wernick, the clerk of the Privy Council, comes a day after the House of Commons justice committee released an audio recording madebyWilson-Raybouldof aDec. 19call between herselfandWernick.

Wernick who was not aware he was being recorded in the 17-minute call is heard warning Wilson-Raybould that Trudeau was "quite determined" to preventSNC-Lavalin'scriminal trial from leading to job losses.

Wernick said Trudeauwanted to know why the then-justice minister hadn't used a new legal tool to allow the Quebec-based engineering giant to avoid a criminal trial on corruption-related charges.

Wilson-Raybouldis heardrepeatedly statingthat she thought the conversation with Wernick was inappropriate and that she wanted to protect the prime minister and the integrity of the government.

Skepticism from Scheer

Wernick's assertionthat Trudeau could not be briefed while on vacationdrew ridicule from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who repeated his call for the Liberal-dominated Justice committee to re-open the investigation into the affair.

"I'm not buying it," Scheertold reporters on Sunday at an anti-carbon tax event in Brampton, Ont. "I just think that's asking Canadians to suspend reasonable expectations of what the dynamic would be like in that office."

Scheercited Wernick's owncommittee testimony that the prime minister wasavailable 24 hours a day and often "woken up in the middle of the night" to be briefed on important issues.

"The idea that he was on vacation and couldn't be briefed about an issue that he took such great interest in, that he sent his principal adviser multiple times to lobby Ms. Wilson-Raybouldto interfere in this situation, an issue that he himself had a meeting with her on, and then never asked about it, certainly I'm not buying that," Scheer said.

Ex-aide Butts tablestexts, notes to committee

Meanwhile on Sunday, Gerald Butts, Trudeau's former principal secretary who resigned in February amid the SNC-Lavalin controversy, said via Twitter he has also submitted more evidence to the Justice committee following the release ofWilson-Raybould's additional material.

"Having reviewed Ms. Wilson-Raybould's further testimony, I have tabled with the Justice Committee notes and texts between us related to the events Ms. Wilson-Raybould describes," Butts tweeted, without indicating what was contained in the messages.

AnthonyHousefather, theLiberal chair of the committee, confirmed the material from Butts had been received, but said it would notbe released publiclyuntil the messages aretranslated for committee members.

"They were sent this morning, the clerk will see them tomorrow morning," Housefather said. "They will be sent to translation, and when translation is done and [the] committee approves,they will be released."

Conflicting claims

In contrast to Wilson-Raybould's testimony released on Friday where she alleged Trudeau was set on stopping the criminal prosecution, Wernick's lawyer said the PM was not aware of her concerns, and the SNC case was not a priority for the PMO.

In the statementfromlawyer Frank Addario,Wernickraised the issue with the then-attorney-general "as part of his jobto manage relations between the PM and his cabinet ministers."

AddariosaidWernickdidn't brief Trudeau onWilson-Raybould'sconcerns because, following their phone conversation,"everyone went on holidays the next day." At one point during the call, Wernickis heard tellingWilson-Raybould that he would "have to report back" before Trudeau left.

Wernick's statement appears to shedsome light on how Trudeau could have been left in the dark aboutWilson-Raybould's concerns.

Trudeau'sspokesperson, Cameron Ahmad, saidthe Prime Minister's Office was unaware of the full contents of the audio recording until it was played to lawmakers on Friday.

"When everyone returned at beginning of January, the first burning issue was the [Scott] Brison resignation and a Cabinet shuffle," the statement from Wernick's lawyer said.

"The SNC issue never made it back to the top of the discussion list."

Wernick's lawyer's statement said Wernick"never discussed SNC again with the PM or PMO until someone leaked the story to the Globe and Mail in early February."

Wernick has announced he is retiring from his post as Canada's top civil servant. The PMO announced last week that Ian Shugart will take over as clerk of the Privy Council on April 19.

Watch asWilson-Raybould's secret SNC-Lavalin recording shines light on controversy:

Wilson-Raybould's secret SNC-Lavalin recording shines light on controversy

5 years ago

Duration 5:43

A recording made by Jody Wilson-Raybould of a 17-minute Dec. 19 call between herself and Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick has been released. This, the latest in the unraveling SNC-Lavalin controversy that has the former attorney general pitted against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.