The Liberals are beside themselves because Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the leadership of the RCMP of being “despicable” and covering up what he alleges are crimes that should have landed former prime minister Justin Trudeau in jail.
Poilievre made the comments on the YouTube channel Northern Perspective, referring to Trudeau’s 2019 SNC-Lavalin scandal, as well as accepting a free family vacation to the late Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas in 2016.
In both cases, federal ethics commissioners concluded Trudeau had violated the federal conflict of interest act, but in neither was Trudeau charged under the Criminal Code.
In response to Poilievre’s accusation, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme denied he takes orders from any politician and invited the Conservative Leader to meet with him so he can see the fine work the RCMP does. Poilievre said he will accept.
That said, claims that Trudeau might have broken the law – particularly with regard to obstruction of justice in the SNC-Lavalin scandal – are nothing new.
That allegation was made by some legal experts and pundits after the Globe and Mail broke the story in 2019 that Trudeau and the PMO had pressured then attorney-general Jody Wilson-Raybould to grant a deferred prosecution agreement to the Quebec company, which she refused to do.
Democracy Watch, a non-partisan citizen’s group that advocates for government accountability, is currently asking for a second time to have the Ontario attorney general appoint an independent special prosecutor to review evidence in the SNC-Lavalin case, and is highly critical of how the RCMP conducted its investigation.
The Liberals themselves accused the RCMP of political bias and of costing them the 2008 election when it named then-Liberal finance minister Ralph Goodale in a criminal investigation into the alleged leaking of sensitive financial information regarding income trusts.
Like Trudeau, Goodale was never charged with any crime.
Liberals and some media pundits argue Poilievre’s comments were unworthy of a would-be prime minister and speculate they could damage him during the mandatory leadership review he faces in January,
Fred DeLorey, who managed the Conservative election campaign in 2021, criticized Poilievre’s comments onCBC’s Power and Politics for distracting from issues that could lead to the defeat of the Carney government.
So far, no Conservative MP gas publicly challenged Poilievre.
