Liberal backbenchers and cabinet ministers alike condemned former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould on Monday for surreptitiously recording a phone conversation with the country91裸聊视频檚 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 can91裸聊视频檛 be trusted as a member of the Liberal caucus.
91裸聊视频淛ody Wilson-Raybould? Should be gone. Gone. Should91裸聊视频檝e been gone long ago91裸聊视频�, said Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter, calling her secret recording 91裸聊视频渁bout as low as you can go.91裸聊视频�
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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 government91裸聊视频檚 handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
91裸聊视频淭he moment you stop trusting the government, I mean obviously you shouldn91裸聊视频檛 be in the government or you shouldn91裸聊视频檛 be in the caucus that supports the government,91裸聊视频� said Montreal MP Alexandra Mendes.
Easter, a longtime MP who once served as solicitor general, suggested Philpott might have been 91裸聊视频渦sed91裸聊视频� by Wilson-Raybould and several others said they91裸聊视频檇 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 91裸聊视频� although whether anything he said amounted to 91裸聊视频漹eiled threats,91裸聊视频� as she has alleged, is a matter of opinion.
In a written submission to the committee, Wilson-Raybould said she took the admittedly 91裸聊视频渆xtraordinary and otherwise inappropriate step91裸聊视频� of recording the conversation because she was home alone in Vancouver without a staffer to take notes and wanted to 91裸聊视频渆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.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频渆ntrapment.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚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,91裸聊视频� said Easter. 91裸聊视频淥f course I91裸聊视频檓 angry.91裸聊视频�
Mendes called the secret recording 91裸聊视频渦nethical91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频渢reasonous, really.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淓ven if she had taped that conversation for the purpose of bringing it to the prime minister91裸聊视频檚 attention, the thing is she never did.91裸聊视频�
Montreal MP Marc Miller called the secret recording 91裸聊视频渄istressing91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频渟omewhat repugnant.91裸聊视频� He noted that courts are typically skeptical about such 91裸聊视频渙ne-sided91裸聊视频� recordings because 91裸聊视频渢here91裸聊视频檚 an ability of the person recording to prime the evidence, consciously or unconsciously.91裸聊视频�
Toronto MP Adam Vaughan said the revelation 91裸聊视频渋mpacts the frankness by which we have conversations with people.91裸聊视频�
A former journalist, Vaughan said: 91裸聊视频淚 know that when you use a microphone and you know it91裸聊视频檚 being recorded and the other person doesn91裸聊视频檛, 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.91裸聊视频�
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Transport Minister Marc Garneau said it was 91裸聊视频渧ery inappropriate91裸聊视频� to record the conversation without telling Wernick. 91裸聊视频滻t is not an honourable thing to do.91裸聊视频�
Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott have said they intend to remain in the Liberal caucus and run as Liberal candidates in this fall91裸聊视频檚 election.
91裸聊视频淲hy would I resign?91裸聊视频� Wilson-Raybould told Global News as she left Parliament Hill on Monday. 91裸聊视频滻91裸聊视频檓 just doing the best job I can.91裸聊视频�
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 Trudeau91裸聊视频檚 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.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e putting it behind us and my aim is that (Wilson-Raybould) and Jane are welcome and comfortable as part of our caucus,91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频渘ot only had knowledge about the pressure being applied on the former attorney general but he and his office were, in fact orchestrating it,91裸聊视频� Conservative House leader Candice Bergen told the Commons, accusing Trudeau of providing 91裸聊视频渇alse and deceitful information91裸聊视频� to Canadians about the affair.
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, launched a one-man filibuster of the government91裸聊视频檚 budget until the Liberals agree to further investigation of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
91裸聊视频淚 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,91裸聊视频� 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 Opposition91裸聊视频檚 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 Poilievre91裸聊视频檚 plan won91裸聊视频檛 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 Trudeau91裸聊视频檚 staff, as well as the prime minister himself, to testify before the justice committee about the pressure exerted on Wilson-Raybould.
91裸聊视频淲hen they agree to that, I91裸聊视频檒l stop speaking.91裸聊视频�
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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