Strategists weigh in on SNC-Lavalin affair: `I don´t think public opinion is set on this´
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

The political bombshell launched Wednesday by Jody Wilson-Raybould created new possibilities and pitfalls in the ramp-up to a federal election, say senior strategists. “No one has seen anything like it,� said Conservative strategist Jaime Watt. “The question is what does everybody do now?�For the Tories, the gift of Liberal scandal delivered by the then attorney-general’s allegations of political interference against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his staff prompted a swift call by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer for Trudeau’s resignation. Wilson-Raybould told a Commons committee about “sustained� efforts to persuade her to overrule the public prosecutions director and offer to mediate criminal charges against the giant Quebec firm SNC-Lavalin.Was Scheer’s call a wise move? “It does sound a bit shrill and predictable,� says Watt. “I think they pulled the alarm.“He’ll have to backfill with highly specific reasons and explanations for why that is the appropriate remedy … I think he’s going to have to come out with a much more lawyerly attack on the prime minister’s behaviour.�There remains much unknown about what happened — and a long way to go before the October election date — for any certainty on how much Wednesday’s bombshell will reshape Ottawa’s political landscape. With only one side of the story told in detail so far, the narrative is still in flux and possibilities for new revelations very much in play, says Watt. “I don’t think public opinion is set on this. There presumably are other shoes to drop that we can’t see right now.�Read more:Just put this thing to bedA timeline of Trudeay’s remarksTrudeau won’t recall ParliamentSo Scheer’s challenge, says Watt, is keeping momentum and turning the rather arcane rule-of-law subtleties of attorney-general independence into an election i ...