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Neither was the motive for all this pressure confined to high-minded concern for jobs, should SNC-Lavalin move its headquarters from Montreal. It was, from the start, explicitly partisan, with an eye to the impact on both the last Quebec election and the next federal election.

And the longer it went on, the worse it got — what began as importuning ended as not-so-veiled threats, the pretense of staying within the law giving way to open demands that it be set to one side. And, as we know, not long afterward, she was dropped from her post.

What is revealed throughout is an attitude that appears to pervade this government: that the law is not an institution to be revered, but just another obstacle to get around, by whatever means necessary. Her decision, as the duly authorized and independent decision-maker, was likewise, not something to be respected, but merely an opening bid.

It is nothing short of remarkable that, amid what she called this “barrage” of improper pressure, Wilson-Raybould stood her ground. Why didn’t she resign? Thank goodness she didn’t. She appears to have been one of the few people in this government with any principled belief in the rule of law. And in the end she did pay for it with her job, not once but twice.

If there was any doubt about who would be the more credible witness, Wilson-Raybould or the prime minister and his people, that has been dispelled. Where they have depended on vagueness, she was detailed; where they have offered misdirection, she was direct; where they look like people with something to hide, she was forthright.