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What was the nature of conversations between the PMO and two of its top legal advisers, Mathieu Bouchard and Elder Marques?

At one point in the hearing, Butts flatly denied there was a “co-ordinated effort” within the PMO to pressure the former justice minister.

“One would expect that if such an effort existed, then I would have been aware of it and I was not, and I know the people involved very well,” Butts said. “Mathieu Bouchard and Elder Marques are incredibly accomplished lawyers of sterling reputations and it is inconceivable to me that they would engage in this sort of behaviour.”

Photo by Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press

Marques and Bouchard were two of the leading advisers on the SNC-Lavalin file who met with members of the justice ministry and others following the Sept. 4 decision. On Wednesday, Conservative committee member Lisa Raitt put forward a motion to make public the messages between some of the highest officials in the PMO as a way to clarify any explicit efforts to pressure the minister that might have occurred. The committee’s Liberal majority voted the motion down.

In her testimony last week, Wilson-Raybould said she was “irritated” by a Nov. 22 meeting with Marques and Bouchard, saying they continued to press her on the SNC-Lavalin matter even after she had made it clear that she would not direct federal prosecutors to reverse their decision.

“I said no,” she said. “My mind had been made up and they needed to stop — enough.”

Would the absence of a remediation agreement for SNC-Lavalin really cost “a minimum” of 9,000 jobs?

As allegations against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deepened last week, he stuck to the claim that his sole motivation was to protect Canadian jobs. Butts repeated that refrain on Wednesday. “When 9,000 jobs are at stake, it’s a public policy problem,” he said.

However, analysts and observers suggest the true number could be much lower than that.

“I don’t think 9,000 people lose their jobs,” said Frederic Bastien, analyst at Raymond James based in Vancouver. He said SNC-Lavalin could lose a “significant chunk” of its Canadian workforce, but said it was impossible to put a precise number on it.

A number of jobs would likely remain. The company holds long-term contracts to refurbish two Ontario nuclear facilities, and to maintain a sizeable portion of the SkyTrain in Vancouver, among other projects. It has already won a bid to build a major rail line in Montreal. Also, administrative staff in its Montreal headquarters would be more likely to retain their positions, as the company has a large international portfolio.