Ottawa (AFP)

Justin Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act in an attempt to pressure his justice minister into legal proceedings, a report from the Ethics Commissioner concluded Wednesday: a blow to the Canadian Prime Minister months of indecisive legislation.

This report, written by an independent senior official reporting to Parliament, risks reopening the controversy over the scandal that shook the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau earlier this year. Mr. Trudeau faces a fine of up to $ 500, but the political consequences are likely to be greater.

The Canadian Prime Minister and his entourage were plunged in February into the worst political crisis of his term after being accused by the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould for exercising "inappropriate" pressure on her. "to avoid a lawsuit to engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, which she refused to do.

"The position of authority enjoyed by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the authority of Ms. Wilson-Raybould", said in a statement. a statement Mario Dion, Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

Mr. Trudeau's entourage thus "improperly asked the Attorney General to take into account partisan political interests in this case, which runs counter to the well-established constitutional principles governing the independence of the prosecutor and the rule of law, "the statement said.

"Mr. Trudeau was, in his capacity as Prime Minister, the only public office holder in a position to influence the decision of the Attorney General with respect to his possible involvement in a criminal prosecution case", according to the communicated.

- SNC-Lavalin Scandal -

SNC-Lavalin attempted to obtain from the government an amicable settlement of the fraud and corruption charges related to its activities in Libya, which would have allowed it to pay a fine and avoid harsher penalties for trial.

Mr. Trudeau has always denied having acted inappropriately, highlighting the many job losses related to a possible conviction, which would have deprived the company of lucrative public contracts for 10 years. But its image of exemplary image has come out damaged.

At the head of polls since his election in 2015 against the Conservatives, Justin Trudeau had seen his approval drop in the wake of this case.

At the end of 2017, the Prime Minister had also been found guilty of violating the conflict of interest law for having twice paid for his guest on the private island of Bahamas of the Aga Khan, chief spiritual of the Nizarite Ismailis, a Muslim movement.

The opposition took advantage of these two scandals to shoot at the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, which until then was relatively relatively impervious to criticism because of a favorable economic and social context during his mandate.

"Trudeau said it would be ethical, but he used the power of his office to reward his friends and punish his critics," reacted Wednesday on social networks Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative party. "He is not the one he claimed," he continued.

The political storm triggered by the SNC-Lavalin scandal led to the resignation of two senior officials close to the Prime Minister and the resignation of two ministers, including Wilson-Raybould, who were later expelled from the Liberal Party.

Headquartered in Montreal, SNC-Lavalin, which employs approximately 9,000 people in Canada, was charged in 2015 by Canadian police with paying C $ 47 million (€ 31 million) in bribes. -vin between 2001 and 2011 to obtain contracts in Libya during the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

In late May, a Canadian judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence in this case to name the company to appear.

© 2019 AFP