Scheer wants Liberal MPs to ‘take a stand’
Leader wants further investgigation into SNC-Lavalin affair
OTTAWA — Federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion says he’s willing to testify about his scathing report on Trudeau’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair — if he’s invited to do so by the House of Commons ethics committee.
But there’s the rub: the Liberals hold a majority on the 10member committee and are unlikely to agree to an opposition attempt to keep the SNC-Lavalin controversy in the spotlight as MPs approach the starting gate for the Oct. 21 election.
However, Conservative and NDP members have the numbers to at least force an emergency meeting of the committee on Wednesday, during which they intend to move a motion to invite Dion and possibly others, including Trudeau himself, to answer questions about Dion’s bombshell report.
The report, released Wednesday, concluded that Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin on corruption charges related to contracts in Libya.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer appealed directly Friday to the six Liberal committee members “to do what’s right.” And he launched a “grassroots” campaign, encouraging Canadians to pressure the Liberal MPs directly to allow a full hearing into Dion’s report.
Scheer said Trudeau “betrayed the trust” of Canadians and the Liberal party.
“So it’s time for the Liberals on the committee to take a stand. Do what is right and do what Canadians expect of you,” Scheer said during a pre-election swing through New Brunswick.
He reiterated his belief that Dion’s report contains enough evidence of misconduct to warrant an RCMP investigation, which Scheer requested last winter.
Wilson-Raybould said Friday the RCMP has not contacted her since Dion’s report was released Wednesday. However, she said that she was contacted by the Mounties last spring “regarding matters that first came to the public’s attention on Feb. 7,” a reference to the Globe and Mail article that put the whole saga in motion. She declined further comment on the content of her discussions with the police.
In her testimony before the justice committee in February, however, Wilson-Raybould said she didn’t feel anything illegal had occurred. On Wednesday, the RCMP issued a statement saying the force is “examining this matter carefully with all available information and will take appropriate actions as required.”
If, as expected, Liberal MPs on the committee reject the attempt to keep the controversy boiling with testimony from Dion and others, that will add fuel to opposition charges of a coverup.