Trudeau, Morneau face calls to step down

OTTAWA— Both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau are facing calls to resign — from two federal party leaders — over their involvement in the controversy swirling around the WE organization.

Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer challenged to Trudeau and Morneau Friday to “step aside for the good of the country.”

“This entire scandal reeks of corruption at the highest levels of the federal government,” he said. “These individuals need to do the right thing.”

In what appears to be an attempt to drive a wedge between Trudeau his own caucus, Scheer said Liberal MPs who do not want to be seen as complicit in this controversy should demand that their leader quit.

“Liberal MPs have a choice to make: are they prepared to sacrifice their personal integrity to protect their scandal-plagued leader and to cover up corruption or are they willing to take a stand and demand that Trudeau step aside?” he said.

Bloc Québécois Leader YvesFrançois Blanchet also called on Trudeau and Morneau to resign — a step further from his earlier position of asking the prime minister to step aside while the federal ethics commissioner and committees investigate the matter.

The Bloc is asking Elections Canada to consider what would be necessary to run an election in a pandemic and is asking House Speaker Anthony Rota to arrange a vote of all 338 MPs on or before Sept. 21.