Liberal backbenchers and cabinet ministers alike condemned former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould on Monday for surreptitiously recording a phone conversation with the countrysa国际传媒檚 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 cansa国际传媒檛 be trusted as a member of the Liberal caucus.
sa国际传媒淛ody Wilson-Raybould? Should be gone. Gone. Shouldsa国际传媒檝e been gone long agosa国际传媒�, said Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter, calling her secret recording sa国际传媒渁bout as low as you can go.sa国际传媒�
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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 governmentsa国际传媒檚 handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
sa国际传媒淭he moment you stop trusting the government, I mean obviously you shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be in the government or you shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be in the caucus that supports the government,sa国际传媒� said Montreal MP Alexandra Mendes.
Easter, a longtime MP who once served as solicitor general, suggested Philpott might have been sa国际传媒渦sedsa国际传媒� by Wilson-Raybould and several others said theysa国际传媒檇 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 sa国际传媒� although whether anything he said amounted to sa国际传媒漹eiled threats,sa国际传媒� as she has alleged, is a matter of opinion.
In a written submission to the committee, Wilson-Raybould said she took the admittedly sa国际传媒渆xtraordinary and otherwise inappropriate stepsa国际传媒� of recording the conversation because she was home alone in Vancouver without a staffer to take notes and wanted to sa国际传媒渆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.sa国际传媒�
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 sa国际传媒渆ntrapment.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚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,sa国际传媒� said Easter. sa国际传媒淥f course Isa国际传媒檓 angry.sa国际传媒�
Mendes called the secret recording sa国际传媒渦nethicalsa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渢reasonous, really.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淓ven if she had taped that conversation for the purpose of bringing it to the prime ministersa国际传媒檚 attention, the thing is she never did.sa国际传媒�
Montreal MP Marc Miller called the secret recording sa国际传媒渄istressingsa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渟omewhat repugnant.sa国际传媒� He noted that courts are typically skeptical about such sa国际传媒渙ne-sidedsa国际传媒� recordings because sa国际传媒渢heresa国际传媒檚 an ability of the person recording to prime the evidence, consciously or unconsciously.sa国际传媒�
Toronto MP Adam Vaughan said the revelation sa国际传媒渋mpacts the frankness by which we have conversations with people.sa国际传媒�
A former journalist, Vaughan said: sa国际传媒淚 know that when you use a microphone and you know itsa国际传媒檚 being recorded and the other person doesnsa国际传媒檛, 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.sa国际传媒�
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Transport Minister Marc Garneau said it was sa国际传媒渧ery inappropriatesa国际传媒� to record the conversation without telling Wernick. sa国际传媒滻t is not an honourable thing to do.sa国际传媒�
Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott have said they intend to remain in the Liberal caucus and run as Liberal candidates in this fallsa国际传媒檚 election.
sa国际传媒淲hy would I resign?sa国际传媒� Wilson-Raybould told Global News as she left Parliament Hill on Monday. sa国际传媒滻sa国际传媒檓 just doing the best job I can.sa国际传媒�
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 Trudeausa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e putting it behind us and my aim is that (Wilson-Raybould) and Jane are welcome and comfortable as part of our caucus,sa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒渘ot only had knowledge about the pressure being applied on the former attorney general but he and his office were, in fact orchestrating it,sa国际传媒� Conservative House leader Candice Bergen told the Commons, accusing Trudeau of providing sa国际传媒渇alse and deceitful informationsa国际传媒� to Canadians about the affair.
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, launched a one-man filibuster of the governmentsa国际传媒檚 budget until the Liberals agree to further investigation of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
sa国际传媒淚 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,sa国际传媒� 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 Oppositionsa国际传媒檚 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 Poilievresa国际传媒檚 plan wonsa国际传媒檛 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 Trudeausa国际传媒檚 staff, as well as the prime minister himself, to testify before the justice committee about the pressure exerted on Wilson-Raybould.
sa国际传媒淲hen they agree to that, Isa国际传媒檒l stop speaking.sa国际传媒�
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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