Friday, March 1, 2019

WILL HE RESIGN 
BEFORE ELECTION?
Wilson-Raybould’s testimony was a political earthquake for the Liberal Party, which entered 2019 expecting to sail to a relatively easy second term at an election scheduled for this October. Overnight, the party’s chances at re-election have dimmed considerably, and Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer this week took the extraordinary step of calling for Trudeau’s resignation.
“Justin Trudeau simply cannot continue to govern this great nation now that Canadians know what he has done,” the Tory leader said following Wilson-Raybould’s testimony.
Trudeau and his allies in the government have denied that Wilson-Raybould’s testimony is accurate, but they will soon have a testimony of their own to directly refute her. Following her appearance before the House of Commons Justice Committee, the Prime Minister’s former principal secretary Gerald Butts asked the committee’s chair — via Twitter — if he, too, could testify about the SNC-Lavalin affair. Such a request is unusual but reflects the unprecedented nature of the current scandal engulfing Canadian politics.