Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to journalists before the start of a Liberal Party caucus meeting in the West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he was still puzzled by the decision of former veterans affairs minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to quit last week, even though she addressed the Cabinet on Tuesday.
Trudeau is battling a crisis that centers on Wilson-Raybould and allegations that his officials pressured her last year to ensure construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc avoided a corruption and bribery trial when she was justice minister.
Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Atlantic Canada, did not answer directly when asked about a report in the Globe and Mail newspaper on Thursday alleging Wilson-Raybould told the Cabinet she had come under improper pressure from officials.
“I continue to be surprised by Jody Wilson-Raybould’s decision. … This is not a decision that remains clear to me,” he told a televised news conference in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The issue could threaten the ruling Liberals’ chances in an election this October. Trudeau aide Gerald Butts, a major architect of the Liberals’ surprise victory in October 2015, quit on Monday while insisting he had done nothing wrong.
Trudeau on Wednesday calmed restless legislators at a meeting to discuss the two resignations but sidestepped questions about how he planned to handle the crisis, party sources said.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis