The prime minister has nothing to gain by letting his opponents batter him senseless over the SNC-Lavalin affair. He knew full well that in Toronto on Thursday evening at the leaders' debate they would dredge up all those inconvenient truths that have emerged over the past few months: the unethical pressure on an attorney general; the firing of the same AG and another minister for standing up for the rule of law, an ethics report so damning that the prime minister can’t acknowledge it in full, certainly not to the extent that it warrants an apology. And now reports that the RCMP are investigating possible obstruction of justice charges.
To a question whether pressure had been “applied” to the attorney general Trudeau used the old strawman argument — refute something that had never been alleged. What’s more, he did it three times in almost exactly the same language when pressed on the matter.
But it was hardly likely to get him through a grueling, two-hour debate facing an opposition that would have been delighted to pepper him with question after question on those issues.
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