Justin Trudeau scandal: PM faces calls for SECOND investigation after ‘interference’

The Conservative Party deputy leader Lisa Raitt has set a letter to the federal judicial affairs commissioner Marc Giroux saying the leak “strongly suggests” that “political actors” shared information about former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s choice for the country’s highest court. The letter says if this is true, it would be “an egregious case of political interference…that severely injures the independence of the judiciary.”

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The Canadian Press and CTV previously reported that Ms Wilson-Raybould and Mr Trudeau did not agree over who to appoint following the retirement of Beverley McLachlin as chief justice in 2017.

Sources said Ms Wilson-Raybould wanted Glenn Joyal, chief justice of Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench, to fill both the role on the bench as a justice from western Canada and also the chief justice role.

But Mr Trudeau did not like that Mr Joyal had an old fashioned view of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mr Joyal had also criticised the top court for include “new rights” that were not clearly mentioned in the charter, which lead to the legalisation of same-sex marriage and also Canada getting rid of its abortion law and prohibition on medically assisted dying.

The Prime Minister chose Alberta judge Sheilah Martin to fill the western role on the Supreme Court and made sitting Justice Robert Wagner to the role of chief justice.

But Ms Wilson-Raybould said on Monday there was “no conflict” with Mr Trudeau on the issue, but id not comment further.

But on Wednesday, an anonymous source claimed to the Globe and Mail that Ms Wilson-Raybould recommended Mr Joyal as she wanted to appoint an Indigenous judge as chief justice of Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

This would have been the first time this happened in a superior court in Canada. 

The newspaper also said Ms Wilson-Raybould felt Mr Joyal was more liberal about the charter of rights than Mr Wagner.

The Canadian Bar Association and the Manitoba Bar Association have also criticised the information over the appointment process being leaked.

The leaks come after Mr Trudeau moved Ms Wilson-Raybould out of the justice portfolio during a cabinet shuffle in January over the SNC-Lavalin issue. 

She was moved to Veterans Affairs but quit from cabinet a month later due to allegations that she had been pressured by the Liberal Party to help stop a criminal prosecution of the Montreal engineering company. 

Ms Raitt said Wednesday that the leaks about the Supreme Court appointment process show how Mr Trudeau is “disrespectful for the rule of law”.

She said: ”The SNC-Lavalin affair has raised serious questions about the rule of law in Canada and the degree to which the Prime Minister’s Office has interfered in it. 

“This most recent episode of potential political interference from the PMO only further damages our democratic institutions and values and requires immediate attention.”

source: express.co.uk