Scheer repeats alleged libel, goads Trudeau to follow through on lawsuit threat
Posted April 10, 2019 11:35 am.
Last Updated April 10, 2019 11:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — Andrew Scheer is trying to provoke Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into following through on his threat to sue him over allegedly libellous criticism of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
The Conservative leader has repeated, word for word, the March 29 statement that prompted Trudeau’s lawyer, Julian Porter, to send him notice of a potential libel suit.
For good measure, he’s done it outside the House of Commons, so parliamentary privilege won’t protect him.
Scheer accuses Trudeau of leading a campaign to interfere with the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin and directing Canada’s former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to break the law.
Trudeau says he put Scheer on notice because the Conservatives have a history of making misleading and defamatory statements.
He says he won’t “stand idly by” and allow that to happen.
