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As a student at McGill University in the 1990s, Justin Trudeau sat down near some stone pillars and posed for a photo with another student, who decades later would emerge as the architect of his policies as prime minister — Gerald Butts.

The two were clad in nearly identical attire — sandals, ripped acid-washed jeans and white T-shirts. Trudeau included the photo of them in his 2014 autobiography — an indication of how close the two have been.

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On Monday, after seven years hovering near Trudeau’s elbow as his chief advisor on policy and strategy, Butts resigned as Principal Secretary amid accusations that the Prime Minister’s Office interfered in the criminal prosecution of the giant Montreal engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. Though Butts called such accusations “simply not true,” he acknowledged that he had become a distraction and decided to remove himself.

Having helped persuade Trudeau to run for office, having helped write the Prime Minister’s autobiography and having helped run his campaign, he departs as the SNC scandal envelops the PMO.