Liberal backbenchers and cabinet ministers alike condemned former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould on Monday for surreptitiously recording a phone conversation with the country香蕉视频直播檚 top public servant, Michael Wernick.
For many of them, the recording was the last straw in the SNC-Lavalin saga that has engulfed the Trudeau government and proof that the former minister can香蕉视频直播檛 be trusted as a member of the Liberal caucus.
香蕉视频直播淛ody Wilson-Raybould? Should be gone. Gone. Should香蕉视频直播檝e been gone long ago香蕉视频直播�, said Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter, calling her secret recording 香蕉视频直播渁bout as low as you can go.香蕉视频直播�
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The same sentiment was applied by most Liberal MPs to Jane Philpott, who quit cabinet in solidarity with Wilson-Raybould early last month, saying she no longer had confidence in the government香蕉视频直播檚 handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
香蕉视频直播淭he moment you stop trusting the government, I mean obviously you shouldn香蕉视频直播檛 be in the government or you shouldn香蕉视频直播檛 be in the caucus that supports the government,香蕉视频直播� said Montreal MP Alexandra Mendes.
Easter, a longtime MP who once served as solicitor general, suggested Philpott might have been 香蕉视频直播渦sed香蕉视频直播� by Wilson-Raybould and several others said they香蕉视频直播檇 like to know whether she condoned the secret taping.
Wilson-Raybould submitted the 17-minute audio recording to the House of Commons justice committee last week to bolster her contention that she was improperly pressured last fall to intervene to stop the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. The recording confirms her earlier oral testimony about the content of a Dec. 19 phone conversation with Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council 香蕉视频直播� although whether anything he said amounted to 香蕉视频直播漹eiled threats,香蕉视频直播� as she has alleged, is a matter of opinion.
In a written submission to the committee, Wilson-Raybould said she took the admittedly 香蕉视频直播渆xtraordinary and otherwise inappropriate step香蕉视频直播� of recording the conversation because she was home alone in Vancouver without a staffer to take notes and wanted to 香蕉视频直播渆nsure that I had an exact record of what was discussed as I had reason to believe that it was likely to be an inappropriate conversation.香蕉视频直播�
Tourism Minister Melanie Joly said if Wilson-Raybould simply wanted a record of what was said, she should have told Wernick she was taping the call for that purpose.
As it was, several Liberal MPs suggested the recording smacked of 香蕉视频直播渆ntrapment.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淚n my listening to it, I felt she had to be reading from a script at times to try and draw out, to make the clerk and the prime minister and cabinet colleagues and us that sit in caucus with her look bad,香蕉视频直播� said Easter. 香蕉视频直播淥f course I香蕉视频直播檓 angry.香蕉视频直播�
Mendes called the secret recording 香蕉视频直播渦nethical香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播渢reasonous, really.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淓ven if she had taped that conversation for the purpose of bringing it to the prime minister香蕉视频直播檚 attention, the thing is she never did.香蕉视频直播�
Montreal MP Marc Miller called the secret recording 香蕉视频直播渄istressing香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播渟omewhat repugnant.香蕉视频直播� He noted that courts are typically skeptical about such 香蕉视频直播渙ne-sided香蕉视频直播� recordings because 香蕉视频直播渢here香蕉视频直播檚 an ability of the person recording to prime the evidence, consciously or unconsciously.香蕉视频直播�
Toronto MP Adam Vaughan said the revelation 香蕉视频直播渋mpacts the frankness by which we have conversations with people.香蕉视频直播�
A former journalist, Vaughan said: 香蕉视频直播淚 know that when you use a microphone and you know it香蕉视频直播檚 being recorded and the other person doesn香蕉视频直播檛, it puts the other person at a significant disadvantage. It also puts the person recording it at inappropriate advantage. I think for those reasons there are rules for lawyers, there are rules for journalists, there are rules in place for how recorded conversations are used as evidence.香蕉视频直播�
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Transport Minister Marc Garneau said it was 香蕉视频直播渧ery inappropriate香蕉视频直播� to record the conversation without telling Wernick. 香蕉视频直播滻t is not an honourable thing to do.香蕉视频直播�
Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott have said they intend to remain in the Liberal caucus and run as Liberal candidates in this fall香蕉视频直播檚 election.
香蕉视频直播淲hy would I resign?香蕉视频直播� Wilson-Raybould told Global News as she left Parliament Hill on Monday. 香蕉视频直播滻香蕉视频直播檓 just doing the best job I can.香蕉视频直播�
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has thus far been unwilling to kick the former ministers out, maintaining that the Liberal party is a big tent that can accommodate diverse views. And until the secret recording was released Friday, Liberal ministers and backbenchers dutifully used Trudeau香蕉视频直播檚 script.
They now appear determined to take the matter into their own hands at their weekly caucus meeting Wednesday. Some are pushing for an emergency meeting earlier to boot the pair of former ministers out of caucus as soon as possible.
But a handful of Liberals are still willing to accommodate the former ministers, both of them former stars in the cabinet whose open criticisms of Trudeau have coincided with noticeable declines in Liberal popularity.
香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e putting it behind us and my aim is that (Wilson-Raybould) and Jane are welcome and comfortable as part of our caucus,香蕉视频直播� said Treasury Board president Joyce Murray.
While the secret tape has galvanized the Liberal caucus against Wilson-Raybould and Philpott, it has fortified opposition parties in their call for a thorough investigation of the entire SNC-Lavalin affair.
The recording proves Trudeau 香蕉视频直播渘ot only had knowledge about the pressure being applied on the former attorney general but he and his office were, in fact orchestrating it,香蕉视频直播� Conservative House leader Candice Bergen told the Commons, accusing Trudeau of providing 香蕉视频直播渇alse and deceitful information香蕉视频直播� to Canadians about the affair.
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, launched a one-man filibuster of the government香蕉视频直播檚 budget until the Liberals agree to further investigation of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
香蕉视频直播淚 have the ability to speak an unlimited period of time (on the budget) and I will be using that ability to demand the government end the coverup (and) agree to a parliamentary investigation into the SNC-Lavalin scandal,香蕉视频直播� he told a news conference before heading into the Commons to begin an hours-long speech.
House of Commons rules say the finance minister and the Opposition香蕉视频直播檚 finance critic can speak as long as they want about the budget, but only within the time allotted each day for government business. That means Poilievre香蕉视频直播檚 plan won香蕉视频直播檛 disrupt most other activities in the Commons and he has to speak for only a few hours at a time. Debate on the budget is also restricted to four sitting days.
The Ottawa-area MP said he wants senior members of Trudeau香蕉视频直播檚 staff, as well as the prime minister himself, to testify before the justice committee about the pressure exerted on Wilson-Raybould.
香蕉视频直播淲hen they agree to that, I香蕉视频直播檒l stop speaking.香蕉视频直播�
Wilson-Raybould has said she endured a months-long campaign of PMO pressure, including from Wernick and Butts, to arrange a so-called remediation agreement for SNC-Lavalin, which is facing criminal charges that it used bribery and fraud to get business in Libya. Conviction could include a 10-year ban on bidding on federal contracts in Canada.
She alleges that her refusal was the reason Trudeau shuffled her out of the prestigious justice portfolio and into Veterans Affairs in mid-January. She resigned from cabinet a month later.
Joan Bryden , The Canadian Press
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