The political backlash from the SNC-Lavalin scandal could put a chill on the use of deferred prosecution agreements, something that advocates fear could sideline the settlement mechanism before its potential merits can be demonstrated.
“If Canadian authorities are out of step with their counterparts in other countries that have embraced remediation … there may be little incentive for Canadian companies to voluntarily report and remedy wrongdoing,” he added. The SNC-Lavalin affair, which has proven to be a test case of sorts for DPAs in Canada, has so far triggered the resignation of two cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary, and led to days of testimony before the House of Commons justice committee in Ottawa.
Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin is accused of bribing officials to secure work in Libya and could face a decade-long ban on bidding for government contracts in Canada if convicted. Trudeau’s former principal secretary and close friend Gerald Butts later testified that there were discussions with Wilson-Raybould about the SNC file, but that they weren’t outside the realm of normal government operations.
In 2011, the country’s record on enforcement of foreign bribery offences was singled out in a critical report from the OECD, which noted that there had been just one successful prosecution completed under a law passed in 1999.
Is this another 'helpful op ed '?