Op-ed: SNC-Lavalin affair fails the scandal test - so far

The Globe and Mail has published an opinion piece by historian Penny Bryden in the national edition of the newspaper about the SNC-Lavalin affair. Bryden proposed that the SNC-Lavalin affair has the makings of a political scandal of the highest order, but may not yet meet the three criteria needed for a true scandal in Canadian politics. "Within the past eight months, we have learned the federal government buried a provision in a 2018 omnibus budget bill enabling deferred prosecution agreements, which allow corporations to avoid criminal charges by paying a penalty. We have learned that construction and engineering giant SNC-Lavalin lobbied hard for such a clause. The fallout was extensive and has reached into Parliament, the senior civil service and other areas of government. Four senior members of government are gone. Surely this has all the makings of a political scandal of the highest order. But does it meet the three criteria needed for a true scandal?" Read the full op-ed in The Globe and Mail.