Following alleged interference by the Prime Minister’s Office into the decision making authority of former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould regarding the case of SNC-Lavalin, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) issued a statement of concern over the Prime Minister’s alleged involvement. MLI Research Advisory Board Member Elliot Tepper joined CTV news to discuss this latest development.
According to Tepper, this is a serious move from the OECD, and Canadians should consider it as such.
“We should give [the OECD’s statement] a lot of weight, in that Canada is a founding member of the OECD,” say Tepper. Canada is “also a cosponsor of the of the particular clause under which we are now being investigated.”
Tepper explains that the OECD’s extra-governmental nature as a body that monitors, advises on, and enforces good-practices among its members means that the SNC-Lavalin scandal is no longer a domestic matter. It also means that the OECD’s concern reflects that the alleged behaviour of the Prime Minister’s Office may be out of line with international standards and best practices.
“It’s a question of how we present ourselves to the world; now that the OECD has in a sense internationalized this, it is time to ask ourselves if there are other implications for Canada in the world.”
“Canada was one of the remaining states in the world standing out as behind the global international order that has been so weakened,” argues Tepper. “Now it looks like Canada, unfortunately, is going to be weakened as well.”
