Despite what many assume, I am not a partisan. I try to look at each issue rationally and avoid jumping on bandwagons just because everyone else is.
In this case it is important to remember that the decision to prosecute and on what charges can be a political judgement because prosecutors have to consider the public interest. I can't see why the elected government should not have a role is deciding what the public interest is. The current system which makes any such involvement by politicians a matter of public record provides a good defense against politicians using this power to reward friends and punish enemies.
With the SNC-Lavalin case it is not clear what was said and the subsequent demotion of the MOJ is concerning so I agree it stinks. However, the simple fact of the PMO asking about a case and expressing an opinion is not, in itself, wrong. Nor is it wrong for MOJ the to direct prosecutors to use the provisions in the law to to negotiate a settlement wrong provided all of the instructions are in writing and made public. People need to keep these distinctions in mind as we get more information on what exactly happened.
The whole thing is rotten. The then-in-deep-
****-and-under-investigation SNC-Lavalin lobbied the government dozens of times before the gov snuck a section into the 2018 omnibus budget bill that could legally get firms such as theirs off the hook with a fine and an apology. It's total bullshit, SNC-Lavalin has proven time and again to be a criminal organization that keeps getting huge government contracts. SNC-Lavalin has lobbied this government over 50 times in the last 2 years while in deep criminal doo-doo. Apparently it also illegally gave the Liberal Party $110 million.
This reeks of corruption, this company needs to gutted, split up, and sold. If SNC-Lavalin committed these crimes in Canada, imagine the crimes they've committed in foreign countries we've never heard about and many we never will. I get what you're saying but this goes beyond "the public interest".