Mounties not pursuing charges against Justin Trudeau

"BREAKING It has been reported by MP Michael Barrett that Justin Trudeau and his former senior officials are facing an RCMP investigation for interfering in a criminal prosecution," says a June 19, 2023 Facebook post with more than 500 shares.

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Screenshot of a Facebook post taken June 22, 2023

Another Facebook post from the page Canada Proud also claims federal authorities are investigating Trudeau for exerting his influence during judicial proceedings against SNC-Lavalin. In 2019, the Canadian company's construction division pleaded guilty to fraud related to its activities in Libya.

The posts reference a report that Democracy Watch released June 19, 2023. The Canadian advocacy group outlined an Access to Information (ATI) package (archived here) it received from the RCMP after inquiring about any previous and ongoing investigations into the prime minister and other members of government over SNC-Lavalin.

The ATI response said most of the documents had been redacted since the "matter was currently under investigation." That prompted Democracy Watch to publish the headline: "RCMP confirms it is investigating obstruction of SNC-Lavalin prosecution by Trudeau and Cabinet officials."

Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Barrett and media outlets such as the Post Millennial and the Counter Signal then amplified the claim. One of Canada's largest newspapers, the National Post, also published a story saying Trudeau was reportedly under investigation.

However, the national police agency released a statement June 19 saying it was not investigating Trudeau.

"In response to numerous media reports, the RCMP can confirm it is not investigating allegations of political interference in the trial of SNC Lavalin," the Mounties said in a tweet (archived here).

'Insufficient evidence'

Canada's ethics watchdog in 2019 found Trudeau broke rules by encouraging then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to settle the corruption case against SNC-Lavalin. The Montreal-based firm was charged in 2015 with allegedly paying bribes to secure contracts in Libya.

While the RCMP at the time said it was examining the scandal, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said that since there was no direct order from the prime minister to Wilson-Raybould, obstruction of justice was unproven.

Marie-Eve Breton, a spokeswoman for the RCMP, told AFP in an email that the statement in the ATI response alluding to an investigation was incorrect and included outdated information.

"The RCMP's Sensitive and International Investigations unit had conducted an assessment pertaining to these allegations and determined there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a criminal offence and the file was concluded by January 2023," Breton said.

Stories updated

After the RCMP released its clarification, the National Post updated its story. The Post Millennial also updated its article but re-shared its original misleading headline on June 20.

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Screenshot of a Post Millennial tweet taken June 22, 2023

The Counter Signal and Canada Proud acknowledged the RCMP's statement while criticizing the agency and calling for further investigations.

Democracy Watch did not take down its original report, instead adding an update saying the RCMP's statement offered more questions than answers. The group also later changed the title of its post.

Breton said the RCMP will review Democracy Watch's additional records requests and provide a new release package within 90 days.

"Given the investigation ended in January, and that the only reason the RCMP gave for keeping the documents secret was the incorrect claim that the allegations were still being investigated, it is completely unjustifiable to delay the disclosure of the 86 pages for another three months," Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher said in a June 22 press release.

Find more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.