Scheer calls on Trudeau to resign over SNC-Lavalin affair

Justin Trudeau has lost the moral authority to govern and must resign ahead of a police investigation of his government, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says.

Scheer spoke immediately after former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould testified to the House of Commons justice committee Wednesday, on pressure she felt from Trudeau and others to head off a criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.

Wilson-Raybould testified that she withstood four months of attempts to get her to reverse a decision not to make a plea-bargain-type deal with the company.

Scheer said the Mounties need to open a criminal investigation into what the Liberal government did to help SNC-Lavalin, which faces criminal charges related to allegedly corrupt dealings in Libya.

He said that given what Wilson-Raybould laid out in her testimony, Trudeau can no longer lead the nation.

«As Ms. Wilson-Raybould has so clearly articulated, the people Canadians entrusted to protect the integrity of our very nation, were instead only protecting themselves and their friends,» Scheer said. «As we enter a critical budget debate, and with other pressing matters of public interest in need of action, Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet must now find a way forward without him. I urge them to do so. They have a duty to govern this nation, not help a disgraced prime minister hang onto power.»

Speaking in Montreal, Trudeau said Canadians will be able to choose who they want as prime minister in this fall’s general election.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh suggested Trudeau might have to step down, but said there needs to be a public inquiry to get the truth.

Singh said Wilson-Raybould’s testimony paints a picture of a prime minister and his office willing to disregard the law and more interested in helping powerful friends than average Canadians.

«At this point, Canadians demand some answers to the questions that they have and the only way to get to the bottom of this is a public inquiry that would have independence to assess the truth,» Singh said. 

Cp24