By Canadian Press

PM won’t release McLellan report on SNC-Lavalin until ethics report released

Aug 13, 2019 | 11:06 AM

OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau says he’s received a “great” report from former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan on the SNC-Lavalin affair.

But the prime minister says it won’t be made public until federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion releases his own report into the explosive affair that rocked the government last winter and sent Liberal popularity on a downward slide from which the party has not yet fully recovered.

Dion’s office won’t comment on the status of his investigation but Liberal insiders privately expect the report will be released in early September — just as the campaign for the Oct. 21 election moves into high gear.

Trudeau is likely hoping to blunt the impact of a potentially damaging report from the ethics commissioner by releasing McLellan’s report at the same time.

He appointed her to analyze and make recommendations on questions that arose out of the SNC-Lavalin affair, including whether the roles of minister of justice and attorney general should be separated.

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The affair revolved around an allegation by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould that she was improperly pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to halt a criminal prosecution of the Montreal engineering giant.

The Canadian Press