Mr Trudeau’s government is at the centre of a political storm amid claims senior aides interfered with legal proceedings against the company which faced bribery and corruption allegations. Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould is to go before a parliamentary committee which will ask her if she believes she faced inappropriate pressure from the prime minister’s office to halt a proposed trial charges and impose a fine instead.
But opposition Conservatives want Mr Trudeau himself to testify at the Commons justice committee.
They plan to introduce a motion calling on the Prime Minister to face two hours of questions from the committee no later than March 15.
The motion calls on the House of Commons to “order the prime minister to appear, testify and answer questions” under oath about his involvement in what the Conservatives say was a sustained effort to influence SNC-Lavalin’s criminal prosecution.
Mr Trudeau’s office would not say if he would be willing to appear but said it respected the independence of the justice committee and will co-operate with the federal ethics commissioner’s investigation of the matter.
Canadian MPs cannot be forced to appear before committees and motions in the House of Commons are not binding, so the committee itself would still have to decide whether to call Mr Trudeau.
Both the Conservatives and New Democrats insist the evidence so far suggest the Prime Minster’s Office went pressurised Ms Wilson-Raybould to pursue SNC-Lavalin through a remediation agreement, rather than criminal prosecution.
Top Trudeau aide Michael Wernick has denied any wrongdoing and told the committee: “It is my conclusion and my assertion, based on all the information I have, that there was no inappropriate pressure on the minister of justice in this matter.”
He admitted Ms Wilson-Raybould may have felt pressure to “get it right” on SNC-Lavalin and would likely “express concern” about three meetings.