Trudeau´s top aides discussed SNC-Lavalin file with Wilson-Raybould´s chief of staff
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

OTTAWA—The prime minister’s top two aides together spoke to Jody Wilson-Raybould’s senior staffer about the SNC-Lavalin file on Dec. 18, a conversation that the country’s top bureaucrat acknowledged may be flagged as a “concern� by the former attorney general in her highly anticipated testimony next week. Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, and principal secretary, Gerald Butts — who quit last week, denying any improper PMO conduct — spoke to Jody Wilson-Raybould’s chief of staff, Jessica Prince, a PMO official said late Friday. Prince answers to Telford within the ranks of political staff. The Prime Minister’s Office would not detail the nature of their exchange.But privy council clerk Michael Wernick told a committee during his testimony Thursday that the conversation among staffers for each office — whom he did not name — may be raised by Wilson-Raybould as a concern if and when she ever goes public. It occurred the day before Wernick himself called Wilson-Raybould to “check in� on the SNC-Lavalin file, he said.Read more:Opinion | Chantal Hébert: Has Trudeau begun to put the SNC-Lavalin scandal behind him?Jody Wilson-Raybould wants to ‘speak my truth’ as Liberals quash call for SNC-Lavalin inquiryThe SNC-Lavalin affair: meet the main players“I can’t get into any actual details of the conversation itself,� said Trudeau spokesperson Cameron Ahmad. “Any conversations that were had, whether it was this one or any of the other ones that have been referenced, all fall under the category of what the prime minister has described and, frankly, what the clerk described as appropriate conversations where everything was discussed in a proper way.� Until now it had not been clear that Telford had any contact with the SNC-Lavalin file. The PMO has previously said Telford never spoke to Wilson-Raybould directly on the matter. W ...