OTTAWA 鈥� Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has removed Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the federal Liberal caucus, with the backing of his MPs.
Speaking to the entire national Liberal caucus at an emergency meeting on Parliament Hill, Trudeau cited the 鈥渨ill of caucus,鈥� and said that while it was his decision, the trust that more than 170 Liberal members had with Wilson-Raybould and Philpott had been 鈥渂roken,鈥� and it was clear they had to be removed.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 taping conversations without consent or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government and in me personally as leader, it鈥檚 become clear that Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott can no longer be part of our Liberal team,鈥� Trudeau said.
The prime minister said that he spoke with caucus leadership earlier on Tuesday and also met with Philpott and Wilson-Raybould to inform them of his decision.
鈥淲e鈥檝e taken every effort to address their concerns but ultimately if they can鈥檛 honestly say that they have confidence in this team, despite weeks of testimony, face-to-face conversations and phone calls with myself and other members of caucus, then they cannot be part of this team,鈥� Trudeau said.
Minutes before Trudeau announced this, that she had been informed by Trudeau that she was no longer in the caucus and had been dropped as the candidate for Vancouver Granville, B.C.
She was seen leaving West Block in the minutes before her tweet. she said she is reflecting on 鈥渨hat PM has done,鈥� and said her thoughts are with all who 鈥渂elieved in a new way of doing politics.鈥�
鈥淚 hold my head high鈥� I have no regrets. I spoke the truth as I will continue to do,鈥� she said.
In she was 鈥減rofoundly鈥� disheartened that the decision was made without her being given the opportunity to speak directly to the national caucus. She denied that she was disloyal or that her involvement in the affair had anything to do with political advantage.
鈥淚 was accused publicly by people in caucus of not being loyal, of trying to bring down the Prime Minister, of being politically motivated, and of being motivated by my friendship with Jody Wilson-Raybould,鈥� Philpott said. 鈥淭hese attacks were based on inaccuracies and falsehoods. I did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the Prime Minister. Nor did Jody Wilson-Raybould.鈥�
Philpott said that 鈥渋t appears that the caucus is intent on staying the current course, regardless of its short-term and long-term consequences to the party and to the country,鈥� and is vowing to remain the representative for her Markham Stouffville riding 鈥渇or the remainder of this term.鈥�
This decision comes nearly two months after the SNC-Lavalin scandal first broke.
The controversy centres on allegations from Wilson-Raybould that she faced a "consistent and sustained effort" for months by nearly a dozen government officials pressuring her to intervene in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, out of concern for jobs and Quebec political prospects.
The scandal began unfolding after Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were both shuffled into new cabinet positions in January. Days after the initial story broke about her being pressured, Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet, and Philpott followed suit a few weeks later, citing a loss in confidence in the way the government was handling the entire SNC-Lavalin affair. Since then both have offered additional information or commentary on the matter that Liberal MPs now appear to have been unable to reconcile with.
The pair鈥檚 removal from caucus follows a series of regional caucus meetings in which Liberal MPs discussed whether they should be allowed to remain with the Liberal team.
鈥淭his has been a difficult few weeks for our government and for our Liberal team. On the issues surrounding SNC-Lavalin we鈥檝e seen allegations made, and different versions of events, details. Amid the confusing and competing narratives, Canadians rightly have had questions,鈥� Trudeau said, adding that the government has too grappled with these questions about the role of government in protecting jobs, and respecting Canadian democratic institutions.
He said that the Liberals came to power pledging to do politics differently -- a promise Wilson-Raybould says the government has reneged on -- and in doing things differently, 鈥渨e encounter difficult moments.鈥�
As he finished his remarks to caucus, Trudeau received a standing ovation, and at least one voice in the room could be heard saying 鈥渂ravo.鈥�
The Liberal caucus will hold another meeting on Wednesday, likely to discuss all other business now that the most pressing matter has been addressed. Then, Trudeau will partake in the by-annual Daughters of the Vote event where 338 delegates descend on the Hill, in the name of encouraging more women to enter politics.
Wilson-Raybould was received warmly by a number of the delegates at a reception on Monday night and some critics have questioned whether the Liberals wanted to be seen throwing out two female caucus members on the same day as the Equal Voice-run event.
Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were federal political rookies, first elected in 2015. They were both appointed to Trudeau鈥檚 first and historic gender-balanced cabinet, and were seen to be key to the government鈥檚 pledge of reconciliation and developing a new nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous people.
Prior to her career in politics, Philpott was a family doctor, and Wilson-Raybould was a crown prosecutor and regional chief.
Speaking to questions over whether this move damages the government鈥檚 brand as a feminist government, Liberal cabinet minister Melanie Joly said: 鈥淲e have a feminist prime minister and I profoundly think that loyalty has nothing to do with gender, you鈥檙e either loyal or you鈥檙e not.鈥�
In a statement reacting to the news, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said that the pair鈥檚 removal 鈥渟hould tell Canadians everything they need to know about how things work in the Liberal Party of Canada,鈥� and offered that there is a place in the Conservative Party for anyone who believes that 鈥渟peaking truth to power should be rewarded, not punished.鈥�
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said that this is the way that Trudeau thinks he can make the SNC-Lavalin scandal go away,
Last-chance letter asking to stay
Trudeau leaning into the narrative about the Liberals鈥� approach to politics appeared to be speaking directly to some of what Wilson-Raybould had to say in a last-chance letter to her entire caucus, sent Tuesday around noon.
The letter hit the inboxes of Liberal MPs as some were gathering, grim-faced, to discuss her fate. In the letter Wilson-Raybould said she wanted to remain a Liberal MP -- something she has maintained throughout this affair -- and implored her colleagues to consider 鈥渨hat kind of party you want to be a part of.鈥�
In the letter the Vancouver-Granville MP spoke of the Liberals鈥� 2015 election commitment to do politics differently, more transparently, and by empowering MPs. She stopped short of explicitly saying that she still has confidence in Trudeau.
鈥淚 believed we were going to uphold the highest standards that support the public interest, and not simply make choices to create partisan advantage,鈥� she wrote.
She said the vision that the Liberals came into power with was 鈥渙ne of the main reasons鈥� she didn鈥檛 hesitate to stand up for what she thought was right in the case of SNC-Lavalin.
鈥淚 know many of you are angry, hurt, and frustrated. And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself. I am angry, hurt, and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to. In giving the advice I did, and taking the steps I did, I was trying to help protect the Prime Minister and the government from a horrible mess,鈥� Wilson-Raybould writes in the letter, obtained by 麻豆影视.
鈥淚 am not the one who tried to interfere in sensitive proceedings, I am not the one who made it public, and I am not the one who publicly denied what happened. But I am not going to go over all of the details here again. Enough has been said,鈥� her letter said.
Those final few words are something that it seems the entire Liberal caucus agrees with.
鈥淏y their actions they have excluded themselves so for us now it鈥檚 time to move on,鈥� said Liberal cabinet minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
His colleague and fellow minister Jim Carr said that 鈥渨hen trust is broken it鈥檚 sad and inevitably in public life and in politics, trust and loyalty, and pulling in the same direction is the kind of commitment that is necessary for all team members,鈥� Carr said.
Outrage over secret audio
Over the last two days, numerous Liberal MPs have been speaking out, and expressing disappointment and condemnation over Wilson-Raybould's decision to secretly record and subsequently make public a December conversation she had with Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick about SNC-Lavalin.
That audio was released on Friday along with dozens of additional pages of testimony, text messages, transcripts, and copies of emails to supplement her Feb. 27 hours-long testimony.
Speaking to this, Trudeau said it was a "wrong鈥� thing for a politician, especially a cabinet minister, to have done.
鈥淎nd when that cabinet minister is the attorney general鈥� it is unconscionable,鈥� Trudeau said.
Wilson-Raybould defended her recording on Monday, saying it was a "reasonable, rational thing to do in an unreasonable and irrational situation," and that she felt she needed to protect herself.
House filibuster, study shut down again
Since she testified to the allegations, Trudeau has faced calls to resign and the House of Commons has been largely usurped by opposition-prompted procedural moves, the latest being a budget debate filibuster from Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre which is poised to enter its third day.
Early Tuesday the House Justice Committee met behind closed doors to determine next steps for the new studies it decided to take on after ending its probe into the SNC-Lavalin affair.
The opposition did try to revive its proposal to resume the study that Liberal MPs shut down a few weeks ago, but that was unsuccessful. Despite the committee having ended its meetings on the matter, it is still receiving new evidence. The latest came in today from Trudeau鈥檚 former top adviser Gerald Butts who resigned amid this scandal. He turned over texts and other messages between he and Wilson-Raybould that show the tensions between the PMO and the former justice minister as she was being shuffled into a different portfolio, a move Wilson-Raybould said she thinks was because of her intransigence over not interfering in SNC-Lavalin鈥檚 criminal case.
In his televised comments to caucus Tuesday night, Trudeau indicated a desire to refocus the government鈥檚 agenda on other matters, and took aim at his opponents.
鈥淐ivil wars within parties are incredibly damaging because they signal to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than we do about them, that鈥檚 why I made the difficult decision,鈥� Trudeau said.
鈥淥ur political opponents win when Liberals are divided, we can鈥檛 afford to make that mistake. Canadians are counting on us,鈥� he said.
Jody Wilson-Raybould statement
Jane Philpott statement
