A Canadian advocacy group is challenging Ontario prosecutors’ decision to halt a private criminal case against former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the 2018 SNC-Lavalin affair, calling for an independent special prosecutor to review allegations of obstruction of justice.
Democracy Watch announced this week it has sent a new letter to Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey, arguing that Crown counsel used a “clearly incorrect” legal standard in September when blocking the organization’s private prosecution attempt.
The charges would stem from accusations that Trudeau sought to influence then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould’s handling of criminal proceedings against Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, now known as AtkinsRéalis.
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John Corelli, director of Ontario’s Complex Prosecutions Bureau, stayed the prosecution in late September, saying there was “no reasonable prospect” of proving criminal intent. Democracy Watch disputes this reasoning, claiming prosecutors misapplied the legal standard required for obstruction of justice charges.
“The RCMP did a very superficial investigation into the Trudeau Cabinet’s obstruction of the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin,” said Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch. The group alleges investigators failed to interview key witnesses or obtain Cabinet communications before deciding not to pursue charges.
Reports of the controversy first emerged in February 2019 when media outlets revealed that Trudeau’s office had pressured Wilson-Raybould to offer the company a deferred prosecution agreement rather than face criminal trial for fraud and corruption charges related to Libyan contracts.
Wilson-Raybould quit cabinet in the scandal’s wake, along with Trudeau’s Principal Secretary Gerald Butts and cabinet minister Jane Philpott. Canada’s Ethics Commissioner later ruled that Trudeau breached conflict of interest laws through his attempts to sway Wilson-Raybould’s prosecutorial decisions.
The RCMP investigated the matter but declined to lay charges. SNC-Lavalin pleaded guilty to fraud in 2019 and paid a $280 million penalty.
Democracy Watch filed its private prosecution application in February 2025. Under Ontario law, provincial prosecutors can intervene to halt private criminal cases. The organization now calls for an independently appointed special prosecutor free from political ties to review the case.
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