It is unfortunate and deeply concerning that a confidential and commercially sensitive document submitted to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been leaked to the media, for reasons that remain unclear and are frankly baffling to us. This document was submitted confidentially in order to be considered for an invitation to negotiate a remediation agreement (RA).
As part of the considerations evoked, and as SNC-Lavalin’s CEO Neil Bruce has articulated in media interviews, the company provided information on potential outcomes should it not have the opportunity to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). We have been clear and transparent for several months that the company has a fiduciary duty to shareholders and employees, to have a Plan B in place should a DPA not be available. As Mr. Bruce stated to various media, the company never threatened to move its head office, and it is very unfortunate that an honest and straightforward assessment of potential worst case scenarios is being taken out of context and interpreted as such.
This submission laid out the company’s rationale for a DPA in the public interest. The document provided public interest considerations related to possible RA negotiations with SNC-Lavalin, with a focus on the impact on innocent stakeholders of the prosecution and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the company.