Paul Wells: Under the proposed 'McLellan protocol' the incessant piling-on the attorney general by staffers would not have been possible
I want to talk more about Anne McLellan’s report, which the Prime Minister’s Office released last week on the same day Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion released his own report into the SNC-Lavalin affair.
McLellan was a key minister in the governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, in several portfolios including as minister of justice and attorney general under Chrétien, and has racked up impressive titles since leaving politics. But she’s not widely viewed as a rebel or a provider of surprising answers to leading questions.
McLellan concludes that the two roles shouldn’t be split. She considers all possible alternatives to a single cabinet-level minister responsible for both the roles of Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and decides each would have serious problems. “There is no system for managing prosecutorial decisions that absolutely protects against the possibility of partisan interference,” she writes.
So there’s no need for structural change, McLellan concludes. There are, however, “practical steps that should be taken to reinforce prosecutorial independence.” The way other ministers, political staff, bureaucrats and the PMO feel free to give advice to an AG is way too ad hoc for McLellan’s taste. So she calls for “a protocol” to regulate all these interactions.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Maclean's / Citytv National Leaders Debate 2019 - Macleans.caOn Thursday, Sept. 12, Maclean's and Citytv are hosting the first federal leaders debate of the election calendar, moderated by Paul Wells. Here's how you can watch—and who you can expect to see onstage.
Read more »
HuffPost is now a part of Oath
Read more »
Scheer calls for renewed RCMP probe into SNC-Lavalin affair in open letterConservative Leader Andrew Scheer has released an open letter requesting that the RCMP launch a criminal investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Read more »
Scheer repeats call on RCMP to investigate Trudeau’s actions in SNC-Lavalin affairThe Conservative Leader shared a letter he wrote to RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in which he urged her to use all the resources at her disposal to investigate the matter
Read more »
Trudeau’s handling of SNC affair ‘appears to align’ with criminal offence, Andrew Scheer saysScheer says he’s asked the head of the RCMP to take another look at Trudeau’s actions to determine whether he violated laws on obstructing justice
Read more »