Former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, whose testimony about the SNC-Lavalin scandal before a parliamentary justice committee last week led to calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation, said she still plans to run as a Liberal in October’s general election.
“Ms. Wilson-Raybould was elected and continues to serve as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville,” her office said in an email. “She was confirmed as the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for Vancouver Granville last year.”
The prime minister said in a press conference last week that he has not decided whether Wilson-Raybould, who resigned as Veterans Affairs minister last month, can or should remain in the Liberal caucus, because he had not yet had an opportunity to review the entirety of her explosive hourslong testimony.
In it, she accused Trudeau and nine other high-ranking government officials of improperly pressuring her to interfere in the criminal prosecution of Quebec-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, which faces corruption and bribery charges stemming from its work in Libya.
She said she faced a “sustained effort” and “veiled threats” to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with the company to avoid damaging the Liberals’ political prospects in Quebec. If convicted, the company could lose the chance to bid on federal contracts for a decade, which it has argued could put thousands of employees out of work.
Wilson-Raybould was removed as attorney general and justice minister during a January cabinet shuffle, and moved to Veterans Affairs.
All of the officials implicated by Wilson-Raybould have denied inappropriately pressuring her to interfere. Trudeau said that he “strongly disagrees” with her characterization of events and added that his office has always acted professionally.
On CTV’s Question Period, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said that repairing the relationship between Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould will “take an awful lot of hard work.”
Goodale said he’s hoping there can be “some kind of reconciliation” with Wilson-Raybould but isn’t sure that’s possible.
“A caucus depends on internal cohesion and belief in one another and trust and confidence,” he said.
