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Let me very clear: 1. I am not making, or rushing to, any judgement when it comes to this matter. 2. Past experience in various fields as shown me that complete openness and transparency is the only way forward in situations like this. — Wayne Long (@WayneLongSJ) February 11, 2019

The issue has been dogging Trudeau since last Thursday, when the Globe and Mail, citing anonymous sources, said the Prime Minister’s Office leaned heavily on Wilson-Raybould to instruct the director of public prosecutions, as allowed by law, to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin. That would have allowed the Quebec-based engineering giant to pay reparations but avoid a criminal trial on charges of corruption and bribery in relation to its efforts to win government contracts in Libya.

On Monday, ethics commissioner Mario Dion announced that he has launched an investigation into the allegation, saying he has “reason to believe” there may have been a possible violation of Section 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act. Section 9 prohibits a public-office holder from seeking to influence a decision so as to improperly further another person’s private interests.

“We welcome the ethics commissioner’s investigation,” Trudeau said. “This is an issue that has been much talked about over the last few days and I think it’s extremely important that Canadians can continue to have confidence in our system.”

Wilson-Raybould was not among the British Columbia Liberal MPs who attended multiple events with Trudeau in the Vancouver area. But the prime minister said he’d met with her a couple of times since arriving in her hometown on Sunday and said he continues to have “full confidence” in her.

Trudeau said he respects Wilson-Raybould’s view that she can’t comment on the controversy due to solicitor-client privilege — an issue he said is complicated and on which he’s asked David Lametti, Wilson-Raybould’s replacement as justice minister and attorney general, for advice.