Gerry Butts

Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary talks to Shannon Proudfoot about why the Liberals ran into trouble, what the early polls missed, and how Canada sees Trudeau

Andrew MacDougall: The return of Gerry Butts offers a hint at the tone of the Liberal offer in 2019: a return to positivity. Tories beware.

Andrew MacDougall: Why did the PM’s ex-principal secretary go, while others are allowed to stay? Either nobody did anything wrong, or everybody did.

Andrew MacDougall: Until everyone involved in the scandal testifies—not just Gerry Butts—this looks like a cover-up, not a transparent process

The job of principal secretary is a flexible one in Canadian politics, and the PM’s old friend Gerry Butts played it in an unusually visible and vocal way

Andrew MacDougall: The Liberals might be hoping Gerry Butts will be the firebreak between them and the SNC-Lavalin scandal. It’s wishful thinking.

Paul Wells: The Prime Minister will now have to find out if he can work without Butts. In a crisis, in an election year. The timing isn’t great.

Stephen Maher: The second act of l’affaire SNC-Lavalin could be devastating for Trudeau, and it’s not clear he’ll be better off without his trusted advisor

Andrew MacDougall: Sloppy misdirection, anonymous hit jobs. The response to the Lavalin affair shows a PMO that’s scrambling and caught.  

Stephen Maher: Trudeau and his inner circle turned a completely manageable concern into a scandal. And one of them will need to take the fall.