Public Prosecution Service of Canada
The director of public prosecutions – currently George Dolhai – leads the day-to-day operations of the PPSC and is responsible to the attorney general, holding a rank equivalent to a deputy minister.[10] The most prolific instance of the PPSC in the Canadian public eye was its role in the SNC-Lavalin affair, where the Prime Minister's Office asked in an allegedly improper fashion for the Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould to override a decision by Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel to not extend a deferred prosecution agreement to SNC-Lavalin after its guilty plea in a fraud case in 2019.A potential candidate not chosen sued the party and then leader Patrick Brown, and to avoid conflict of interest, the Attorney General of Ontario referred the case to the PPSC.The prosecution service recused itself from high-profile investigation of Mark Norman, given potential for conflict of interest, with the Alberta provincial prosecutor giving legal advice in the PPSC's stead.[19] In 2019, the PPSC saw criticism over activities in its Ontario office, where some prosecutors complained about being shamed or otherwise discouraged from getting pregnant and having children, as well as an alleged "white frat bro" culture.[20] Also in 2019, the PPSC conducted an internal investigation not released to the public about a botched prosecution related to a criminal defence lawyer not revealing evidence against police officers, resulting in perjury.The prosecution was eventually dropped, but the Criminal Lawyers Association had given official complaints to the Law Society of Ontario regarding the practices of three prosecutors that were allegedly complicit in misleading the court.