Morning Update: SNC-Lavalin’s CEO wrote to Trudeau; gun-lobby group fighting doctors; Manafort sentenced

Good morning,

These are the top stories:

SNC-Lavalin’s CEO pushed for a meeting with Justin Trudeau

After SNC was denied the chance to negotiate a settlement, CEO Neil Bruce wrote to the Prime Minister in October to say his company, which he called a crown jewel of Canadian industry, “had not been treated very well.” He pointed to the company’s stock dropping as “one of the darkest days in SNC-Lavalin’s history.” (for subscribers)

In December, Trudeau turned down the request for a meeting, instead forwarding the letter to then-attorney-general Jody Wilson-Raybould. The letter is coming to light because it was recently submitted to the House of Commons justice committee that’s examining the SNC affair.

Meanwhile, Trudeau held a press conference yesterday morning where he acknowledged that he failed to realize there had been an “erosion of trust” between his office and Wilson-Raybould during the fall of 2018. But Trudeau offered no apologies or contrition.

He also said he believed Wilson-Raybould would have been a great fit as the minister of Indigenous Services. Trudeau’s comment came despite top bureaucrat Michael Wernick’s recent testimony that it was common knowledge Wilson-Raybould didn’t want that portfolio because she didn’t want to administer the Indian Act. She was subsequently demoted to Veterans Affairs during a January shuffle.

Here’s a brief rundown of what Trudeau said:

• “There are conversations that were experienced differently. I regret [that],” he said.
• “I was not aware of that erosion of trust. As Prime Minister, and leader of the federal ministry, I should have been.”
• Trudeau said that “in regards to standing up for jobs, and defending the integrity of our rule of law, I continue to say there was no inappropriate pressure.”

In a tweet, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which made the decision last fall to push forward with a criminal prosecution of SNC, said: “Our prosecutors must be objective, independent and dispassionate, as well as free from improper influence − including political influence.”

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer again criticized Trudeau, saying the Prime Minister doesn’t understand that “the truth cannot be experienced differently.” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh echoed his call for a public inquiry.

Here’s the view from our opinion section (for subscribers)

Konrad Yakabuski: “What Trudeau’s somewhat perplexed foreign admirers need to understand is that he was never the great moral hope they built him up to be.”

John Ibbitson: “Justin Trudeau described the political crisis that has consumed his government as a failure to communicate. It was not. This crisis is about his failure to lead.”

Margaret Wente: “Without fresh revelations, [this story] will gradually fade away and join the sartorial gaffe in India as an unfortunate but non-fatal mishap.”

Gary Mason: “[Trudeau] wants us to believe he was oblivious to any angst on [Wilson-Raybould’s] part until the cabinet shuffle in January. And not until then did he grasp the full extent of her enmity toward him and his coterie of advisers. Not a chance.”

This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Morning Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.

A gun-lobby group is fighting Canadian doctors who are advocating for firearm restrictions

Toronto surgeon Najma Ahmed – who treated victims of last summer’s Danforth shooting – has seen roughly 70 complaints filed against her at the urging of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights. Ahmed is a founding member of Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, a group that was formed last month to highlight the public-health consequences of gun-related injuries and deaths. But the gun lobby is describing the doctors’ efforts as unethical and radical, and it posted step-by-step instructions for its members to file complaints with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

The campaign by the lobby group echoes efforts south of the border, where the National Rifle Association has sparred with doctors advocating for gun control. And it comes as the federal government in Canada considers a handgun and assault-weapon ban.

Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison

But the sentence falls far short of federal guidelines that recommend a penalty of between 19 and 24 years for Manafort’s crimes, which include laundering tens of millions of dollars in payments from the Russia-connected former president of Ukraine. He’s also been found guilty of dodging U.S. taxes and defrauding several banks.

“It’s an incredibly low sentence. The guy didn’t take responsibility, he went to trial; he said he was going to co-operate but then lied to them; and he couldn’t even bring himself to say he was sorry,” said Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor who teaches law at Columbia University.

Manafort is facing another sentencing next week on charges related to illegal lobbying and witness tampering, which could result in a sentence of up to 10 years.

The 47-month prison term yesterday is the toughest sentence yet for a member of Trump’s campaign amid the ongoing Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. The President’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was recently sentenced to three years in prison. Yesterday, Cohen filed suit against the Trump Organization, saying he’s owed at least US$1.9-million in legal bills.

Brazil’s President is in hot water over a lewd tweet

Jair Bolsonaro shared a video he proclaimed to show the real truth about what happens at Carnaval. The footage showed two minimally clad men dancing on a bus, with one subsequently urinating on the head of the second. Bolsonaro later tweeted, “What is a golden shower?” But, as correspondent Stephanie Nolen writes, the tweet appears to have been a serious misstep for the controversial figure whose 10-week-old administration is already beset with problems.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

The Bank of Canada says it’s “surprised” by how abruptly the economy is slowing. The central bank is now rethinking its plan to keep raising interest rates as Canadians curb spending on cars, home renovations and vacations. (for subscribers)

Ontario has renewed its search for a new OPP commissioner after Ron Taverner’s decision to step aside. The provincial government had come under scrutiny for its decision to appoint Taverner, a family friend of Premier Doug Ford. The OPP, Canada’s second-largest police force, has 6,000 officers who have been without a permanent boss since last fall.

MORNING MARKETS

Stocks tumble

Chinese shares were slammed more than 4 per cent lower on Friday after data showed exports contracting by a fifth, deepening fears for the world’s economy and pushing global equities to three-week troughs. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1.9 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite a sharp 4.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 0.5 and 0.9 per cent by about 5:35 a.m. ET. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was below 74.5 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Michael Jackson and the cost of male genius

Denise Balkissoon: “Yes, Michael Jackson’s music brought joy to millions, including to me. And no, the cultural barriers he broke can’t be overstated. But neither is greater than the depth of the destruction male genius has left in its wake. Moving forward requires reimagining the entire concept.” (for subscribers)

As an Indigenous woman, I know our matriarchs will lead us toward cultural resilience

Sarain Fox: “It’s with a bit of humour that my auntie reminds me, “every day is women’s day.” In my culture, our matriarchs lead our families. My auntie is our oldest surviving matriarch. She holds the family’s history – our stories, our trauma, our truth. That is the work that women have always done; they are responsible for carrying life, water – and our belief that it is sacred – and truth. We need women, now more than ever, to carry our truth.” Sarain Fox is an Anishinaabe activist, artist and television host.

There is no honour in ‘honour killings’

Reyhana Patel: “Although gender-based violence has been justified by reference to cultural notions of honour and shame for a very long time, “honour killing” (or any equivalent expression) has in recent years almost become a statement of equivocation and mitigation when describing an act of horrific violence. This seems hard to believe – that in our forward-looking world, women and girls continue to suffer from violence committed in the name of honour – but it’s still happening today, here in Canada.” Reyhana Patel is co-author of the report ‘Dis-honourable killings,’ published by Islamic Relief Canada, where she is head of external relations.

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

Open this photo in gallery:

LIVING BETTER

‘You can’t be what you can’t see’: Women in STEM on how to close the gender gap

Open this photo in gallery:

How do you increase the number of women working in science, technology, engineering or mathematics? To mark International Women’s Day, photographer Natalia Dolan asked female leaders in these fields to weigh in. These are a few of the responses. Check out the full interactive story here.

Pearl Sullivan, dean, faculty of engineering at the University of Waterloo: “In general, a lack of women with the right technical skill sets has created great challenges for industry. Academia has recognized that a concerted effort to attract women to study in STEM fields is crucial to moving the dial and addressing the acute shortage.”

Emma Mogus, student, inventor: “An often unaddressed reason for the presence of a gender gap comes from the harmful “token woman in the boardroom” narrative, in which the system makes one feel as though there is only room for a select few women in the profession. This can cause girls pursuing these male-dominated fields to view other women as competition, rather than teammates.”

Shiz Aoki, co-founder and CEO, BioRender: “Being a ‘woman in STEM’ is not one particular profile. It is broad and diverse, and each person brings their unique perspective, passion and experiences. That’s where interesting discoveries are born.”

Komal Singh, engineering program manager at Google, author/creator of Ara the Star Engineer: “‘Engineers are boys.’ What would you do if your four-year-old daughter said this to you? As a woman in tech, a person of colour, a first-gen immigrant, a mother of two, I just had to do something to bust that bias for kids.”

Karen Maxwell, assistant professor, department of biochemistry, University of Toronto: “As Marian Wright Edelman said, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ I think as students see more women in leadership positions, in particular women balancing families with their teaching and research, that they will see a way forward for themselves.”

MOMENT IN TIME

Charles de Gaulle Airport opens

Open this photo in gallery:

March 8, 1974: In 1966, when planning began for what would be the largest international airport in France, it was to be known as Aéroport de Paris Nord. But by the time it opened in 1974, it had been renamed Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, in honour of the legendary French statesman who died in 1970. Architect Paul Andreu designed a futurist marvel, typified by the circular shape of Terminal 1, later nicknamed Camembert after the round French cheese. Airport design today champions linear flow, but Andreu instead prioritized boldness. The airport, one of the largest and busiest in the world, is famously confusing to navigate. Located 25 kilometres northeast of Paris, it covers 32 square kilometres, making it about three times the size of Heathrow in London. Last year, more than 72 million travellers moved through de Gaulle, making it the 10th busiest airport in the world and second busiest in Europe. Plenty of passengers complain it is inefficient and disorganized – de Gaulle was named “the most hated airport in the world” by CNN’s travel website in 2011. But thankfully, things went smoothly when the first airplane touched down five days after it opened. – David McGinn

If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.