Ethics Committee addresses scathing SNC-Lavalin report in emergency meeting

OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – The Conservatives are trying to ramp up pressure on the Liberals to hold new hearings on the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The call came ahead of the federal Ethics Committee emergency meeting in the capital on Wednesday.

The meeting was called by opposition MPs in the wake of the scathing report from the ethics commissioner, which found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke the Conflict of Interest Act in the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

There are motions to call the commissioner — and possibly others — to testify.

Naming each Liberal MP on the Ethics Committee, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer called on each of them on Wednesday morning to put country before party and prime minister, and approve the Opposition motion for a new probe into this controversy.

“We know he broke the law, so it’s time for the Liberals on the Ethics Committee to now take a stand,” Scheer said, adding there are still many unanswered questions, and that Canadians deserve answers.

The Liberal party holds a majority on the committee, and it’s unlikely they’ll agree to new hearings so close to the election campaign.

There were extensive hearings in the spring that led to explosive testimony from former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, who has been at the centre of the SNC-Lavalin affair for months.

Scheer says if the Grits shut down this attempt then he’ll state his case to voters.

Meantime, Conservative Deputy Leader Lisa Raitt says she wants to hear why the government didn’t fully cooperate with the commissioner’s investigation.

“If he’s having a problem getting his job done, parliamentarians should know about it,” she said. “And if the prime minister of the country disputes the findings, we should know more about that as well.”

Raitt says not only did the commissioner find an ethical breach, he also apparently raised concerns about the lack of cooperation.

“People should care about it because, otherwise, it’s tantamount to handcuffing the ethics commissioner,” she said.

Trudeau has said he takes responsibility, but he won’t apologize for standing up to protect jobs.

It’s doubtful this opposition attempt will be successful, given the Liberals hold a majority on the committee, especially with just less two months to the federal election.

Raitt says she hopes the Liberals won’t block efforts to get answers.

“If they decide that they’re going to shut it down or not bring the ethics commissioner in, then we know that they’re doing things for partisan purposes,” she said.

None of the Liberal MPs on the Ethics Committee were available for comment ahead of the meeting.

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