Image copyright Reuters Image caption Jody Wilson-Raybould (L) and Jane Philpott (R)

Canada's prime minister has kicked two MPs from his party's caucus after they accused him of meddling in a criminal case involving an influential company.

Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott had already resigned from PM Justin Trudeau's cabinet citing their concerns over the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Now they have been expelled from Mr Trudeau's Liberal Party, months before a general election.

The SNC-Lavalin controversy has cast a shadow over Mr Trudeau's leadership.

Andrew Scheer, the leader of the opposition Conservatives, said on Tuesday that the prime minister had betrayed justice by removing two corruption whistleblowers.

Mr Trudeau repeatedly spoke about the breakdown of trust between Ms Wilson-Raybould and Ms Philpott and members of his staff.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Mr Trudeau told the media shortly after informing his caucus.

"If they can't honestly say they have confidence in this team… then they cannot be part of this team."

Ms Philpott has been vocal about her concerns with the government, and gave an interview in a national magazine last month in which she said "there's much more to the story that needs to be told".

Mr Trudeau said his decision was sparked by the revelation that Ms Wilson-Raybould had secretly recorded a conversation she had with Canada's former top bureaucrat, which she released publicly on Friday.

Ms Wilson-Raybould said the tapes backed up her claim that government officials inappropriately pressured her to shield SNC-Lavalin from prosecution.

What is the SNC-Lavalin affair?

The Canadian firm is accused of bribing officials in Libya to win contracts under Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

SNC-Lavalin has openly lobbied for an agreement that would allow it to avoid prosecution and instead face alternative penalties or measures, such as a fine.

Ms Wilson-Raybould said members of Mr Trudeau's inner circle pressured her to cut a deal, and when she did not, she was removed from her position as justice minister.

Mr Trudeau has repeatedly denied that there was any wrongdoing by him or his officials.

How will this affect the autumn election?

The political controversy, which has been dragging on for weeks, has caused Mr Trudeau's popularity to drop sharply in opinion polls a few months before a general election.

He said he is expelling the women from the caucus to put an end to infighting, which he had vowed to stop when he was elected in 2014.

"Civil wars within parties is damaging because it signals to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than about them," he said on Tuesday.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has struggled to contain the political crisis

How did the two MPs react?

Both women had said they still want to run again under the Liberal banner in the next general election, and expressed dismay they will no longer be a part of the party.

Ms Philpott said she will remain an independent MP until her term is up.

She reiterated her belief that the government put inappropriate pressure on Ms Wilson-Raybould, and criticised the government for attacking Ms Wilson-Raybould's credibility.

"This isn't about a lack of loyalty," she wrote in a statement Tuesday evening. "On the contrary, I recommended that the government acknowledge what happened in order to move forward. This was an expression of loyalty, not disloyalty."

Ms Wilson-Raybould said she had "no regrets".</s>OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday sought to quell a crisis that threatens his chances of re-election, expelling from party ranks two former Cabinet members he said had undermined the ruling Liberals.

Trudeau said former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board chief Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators. They were also barred from running for the party in the federal election this October.

The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her last year while she was justice minister to ensure that construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escape a corruption trial.

“The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken,” Trudeau told an emergency meeting of caucus.

“Civil wars within parties are incredibly damaging because they signal to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than we do about them,” said Trudeau, 47, who took office in November 2015 and faces a tough re-election battle this autumn.

Wilson-Raybould, who tweeted news of her ouster before Trudeau’s announcement, was demoted in January and resigned the next month. Philpott quit shortly afterward, saying she had lost confidence in how Trudeau was handling the matter.

“If people can’t express trust in the party and the prime minister, then they need to find another political vehicle in order to advance their ideas. It’s as simple as that,” Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

Former Canadian Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould leaves West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

The expulsion represented a change of course for Trudeau, who said as recently as last week that the Liberals needed strong legislators with differing points of view.

But increasingly angry parliamentarians had demanded both women be removed from caucus on the grounds they were undermining party unity.

Opinion polls show the crisis has cut public support for the Liberals to such an extent that they could lose in October to the official opposition Conservatives.

Trudeau, who came to power promising “sunny ways” and a greater role for women in politics, admitted it “has been a difficult few weeks.”

The scandal also cost him the services of his closest aide, Gerald Butts, and Michael Wernick, the head of the federal bureaucracy.

Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter: “I have no regrets. I spoke the truth as I will continue to do.”

Last Friday, to back her case, she released the audio of a confidential conversation with Wernick, who did not know she was recording him. Trudeau said that was “unconscionable.”

Slideshow (4 Images)

Philpott said on Facebook that she “did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister ... it appears that the caucus is intent on staying the current course, regardless of its short-term and long-term consequences.”

Trudeau has denied any wrongdoing. The scandal is starting to hit his fortunes in the populous province of Quebec, where the Liberals say they need to pick up seats in October to remain in power.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau’s decision sent a message that “if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party.”</s>OTTAWA -- Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have both been kicked out of the Liberal caucus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, moments after their fellow government MPs had gathered on Parliament Hill for an emergency meeting to determine their future with the party.

"We've taken every effort to address their concerns, and ultimately, if they can't honestly say that they have confidence in this team ... then they cannot be part of this team," Trudeau said.

The dissident MPs, both former senior cabinet ministers, risked a civil war within the Liberal party, he said. That's how the Liberals lose power and Canada can't afford it, he said.

"Canadians will view the removal of Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould from the Liberal caucus for exactly what it is: A betrayal of justice," Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said. "Elected officials are supposed to protect individuals who blow the whistle on government misconduct and corruption, not punish them. However, in expelling Ms. Philpott and Ms. Wilson-Raybould from their caucus, they have done exactly that."

Wilson-Raybould, whose explosive allegations of political interference by the Prime Minister's Office appear to have deeply imperilled Liberal hopes of holding on to power in this fall's federal election, wrote to her fellow -- now former -- caucus members earlier in the day in hopes of convincing them to let her stay.

But just minutes into Tuesday's hastily convened meeting, Wilson-Raybould, who stepped down from Trudeau's cabinet in February after he shuffled her out of the coveted justice portfolio, made it clear via Twitter that the letter hadn't worked.

"I have just been informed by the prime minister of Canada that I am removed from the Liberal caucus and as the confirmed Vancouver Granville candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election," she tweeted.

Minutes later, reporters and cameras were ushered into the caucus room to listen to Trudeau announce that both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were out.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau told caucus members.

"It's become clear that Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott can no longer be part of our Liberal team."

The turmoil has roiled the top ranks of the Trudeau government for weeks, impelled by allegations that Wilson-Raybould was improperly pressured by the Prime Minister's Office to intervene in the criminal prosecution of Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.

And it comes on the heels of a fresh uproar over a key phone conversation between the ex-minister and former Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick, the country's top bureaucrat -- a conversation Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded.

That recording was released Friday as part of her evidence of what Wilson-Raybould calls an intense pressure campaign to persuade her to override a decision to deny SNC-Lavalin a remediation agreement, which would allow the engineering giant to avoid criminal proceedings on corruption and fraud charges.

In the weeks following Wilson-Raybould's resignation, caucus had grown divided over the question of whether she and Philpott should be allowed to remain as Liberal MPs. Trudeau himself had initially suggested he would be willing to let them stay, saying repeatedly that he was reserving judgment.

But Friday's release of Wilson-Raybould's 17-minute phone conversation with Wernick -- and the fact she recorded it -- appeared to tip the scales.

"If a politician secretly records a conversation with anyone, it's wrong. When that politician is a cabinet minister secretly recording a public servant, it's wrong. And when that cabinet minister is the attorney general of Canada, secretly recording the clerk of the Privy Council, it's unconscionable."

He said he was chosen to be Liberal leader, and then prime minister, because he promised a more unifying style than the Conservatives before him.

"We won because we stood together as a team, which was, to be frank, a change from past iterations of this party. The old Liberal party was notorious for infighting. People on the same team used to identify themselves not as Liberals but as hyphenated Liberals," he said. "Civil wars within parties are incredibly damaging because they signal to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than we do about them."

For the sake of unity, he said, Wilson-Raybould and Philpott had to go.

Trudeau finished by swinging into a campaign speech, touting the Liberal record on the environment, the economy and minority rights.

"This is what this year's election is about. This is what's on the line," he said.

In her appeal to her caucusmates, Wilson-Raybould said she rejected the prime minister's pressure on SNC-Lavalin because she was standing up for Liberal values.

"I know many of you are angry, hurt, and frustrated. And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself," Wilson-Raybould wrote in her letter to caucus members.

"I am angry, hurt, and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to. In giving the advice I did, and taking the steps I did, I was trying to help protect the prime minister and the government from a horrible mess.

"I am not the one who tried to interfere in sensitive proceedings, I am not the one who made it public, and I am not the one who publicly denied what happened. But I am not going to go over all of the details here again. Enough has been said."

Toronto MP John McKay, who was unmoved by Wilson-Raybould's letter, said he's dismayed by her behaviour and believes she and Philpott are "joined at the hip." Fellow MP Judy Sgro agreed the letter is "too little, too late.

Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne criticized Wilson-Raybould's ethics, saying he had never recorded any conversations he had while working as a lawyer. Tourism Minister Melanie Joly called it "fundamentally wrong."

In the call, Wernick repeatedly asked Wilson-Raybould why she was not using all the tools at her disposal on the SNC-Lavalin case. She pushes back, saying she would not override the decision of the director of public prosecutions to pursue a criminal prosecution against SNC-Lavalin for bribery and fraud related to its activities in Libya.

Wernick told her Trudeau was "quite determined" on the matter and would likely "find a way to get it done one way or another."

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said Trudeau's move Tuesday was an extension of that attitude -- he'd decided he was going to get his way and threw two unco-operative women under the bus, she said.

Wilson-Raybould has said she believes she was moved out of Justice to Veterans Affairs as punishment for refusing to succumb to relentless pressure last fall from Trudeau, his senior staff, Wernick and others to intervene on SNC's behalf. She resigned from cabinet a month later.

Philpott followed suit in early March, citing a loss in confidence in the government's handling of the matter.</s>After promising an open and collaborative way of doing politics, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Tuesday axed from his party two prominent female former Cabinet ministers who have been at the centre of a festering political crisis about his handling of a criminal case.

Trying to divert the country’s attention from the controversy, Trudeau was in a tough spot politically.

The two women were seen by many as symbols of his progressive feminist government. But within his Liberal Party, they were seen as untrustworthy backstabbers who kept the firestorm alive for weeks with new morsels of information feasted upon by the press and opposition parties. The problems began two months ago when accusations surfaced that Trudeau and his aides inappropriately pressured Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former justice minister and attorney general, to settle a criminal corruption case against SNC-Lavalin, a major corporation based in Montreal. A criminal conviction would bar the company from government contracts for a decade.

Trudeau has denied that anything inappropriate took place. He said he proposed a civil resolution of the case, with a monetary penalty, because a loss of government contracts by SNC-Lavalin would jeopardize thousands of Canadian jobs.

Still, the criminal prosecution has continued.

And since then, the standing of the Liberals has fallen in the polls. And Trudeau’s image as a fresh force who practised politics in a new and transparent way has been severely battered.

With their re-election hopes dimming less than seven months before the national vote, several Liberal members of Parliament have openly expressed frustration with Wilson-Raybould, who resigned from the Cabinet on Feb. 12, and with Jane Philpott, who was president of the Treasury Board and later resigned in solidarity with her.

“It’s become clear that Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott can no longer remain part of our Liberal team,” Trudeau told an emergency meeting of the Liberal members of Parliament Tuesday evening. “Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We cannot afford to make that mistake.”

He added, “In learning to do things and doing them differently, we’ve encountered difficult moments.”

Wilson-Raybould said on Facebook on Tuesday night that she will speak with her supporters about what to do next.

“I did what I was required to do and what needed to be done based on principles & values that must always transcend party,” she wrote.

In a separate Facebook message posted Monday night, Philpott expressed dismay about not being able to make her case to the national caucus before she was exiled from it.

“The need has never been greater for a measured re-evaluation of how the government should respond to this issue,” she wrote. “What I have heard from Canadians is that they want to know the truth.”

Jenny Kwan, a member of the New Democratic Party from British Columbia, said Trudeau’s action undermined his claim of being a feminist.

“This is about really speaking truth to power, and the government shut it down,” she said.

But Carolyn Bennett, the minister of indigenous relations, tried to repair any damage, telling reporters after Trudeau spoke that the prime minister’s commitment to feminism was not a sham.

“It’s not about gender,” she said, saying that her former colleagues had to go simply because they could not be trusted.

Until Tuesday, Trudeau had studiously avoided criticizing either of his former ministers. “I’ve approached this situation with patience and understanding,” he said.

But he called last week’s revelation that Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded a conversation with the country’s top public servant “unconscionable”

The two were discussing the case against SNC-Lavalin, which has been charged with bribing Libyan officials during the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi.

Trudeau’s government was asking Wilson-Raybould to consider using a new measure, similar to ones in the United States and some European countries, that would allow the company to avoid conviction in exchange for a substantial financial penalty.

A criminal conviction would have barred the company from government work, which could potentially have imperiled thousands of Canadian jobs. Trudeau and his aides have repeatedly denied any impropriety.

Philpott also angered her Liberal colleagues by saying in a magazine interview that Wilson-Raybould was being blocked by the government from revealing important information about the case.</s>OTTAWA -- Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have been removed from the federal Liberal caucus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just announced.

Speaking to the entire national Liberal caucus at an emergency meeting on Parliament Hill, Trudeau said the trust caucus members had with them has been “broken.”

“Whether it’s taping conversations without consent or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government and in me personally as leader, it’s become clear that Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott can no longer part of our Liberal team,” Trudeau said.

He met with caucus leadership earlier on Tuesday and said he was informed of the “will of caucus.” Trudeau said he also met with Philpott and Wilson-Raybould to inform them of “my decision.”

Minutes before Trudeau announced this, Wilson-Raybould tweeted that she had just been informed by Trudeau that she is no longer in the caucus and has been dropped as the candidate for Vancouver Granville, B.C.

She was seen leaving West Block in the minutes before her tweet vowing “more to come…” was posted.

This decision comes nearly two months after the SNC-Lavalin scandal first broke, and on the same day that Wilson-Raybould issued a letter to her frustrated caucus colleagues saying that she wanted them to consider “what kind of party you want to be a part of.”

In the last 24 hours, Liberal MPs gathered in their smaller regional caucuses to discuss whether Wilson-Raybould and fellow former cabinet minister Jane Philpott who resigned amid the controversy -- should be able to remain members of the Liberal team.

This is a breaking news update. An earlier version of the story continues below...

OTTAWA -- The entire national Liberal caucus will be meeting Tuesday night in Ottawa, to discuss whether Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott can remain members of the party caucus, sources tell CTV News.

This comes after former attorney general Wilson-Raybould sent a letter to all of her Liberal MP colleagues indicating that she wants to remain a member of the Liberal team and offering a detailed explanation of her current position on the SNC-Lavalin scandal swirling around her.

In the letter, Wilson-Raybould stops short of explicitly saying that she still has confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, though the Vancouver-Granville MP says she believes that she, the Liberals, and their leader all still share the same vision for Canada.

“I know many of you are angry, hurt, and frustrated. And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself. I am angry, hurt, and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to. In giving the advice I did, and taking the steps I did, I was trying to help protect the Prime Minister and the government from a horrible mess,” Wilson-Raybould writes in the letter, obtained by CTV News.

“I am not the one who tried to interfere in sensitive proceedings, I am not the one who made it public, and I am not the one who publicly denied what happened. But I am not going to go over all of the details here again. Enough has been said.”

Her new letter hit the inboxes of the 179-member Liberal caucus around noon, just as the 77 Liberal MPs who represent Ontario ridings were gathering to discuss whether Wilson-Raybould and Philpott, a fellow former cabinet minister should be able to remain members of the Liberal team.

Some MPs who were entering the Ontario caucus meeting said they still hadn’t had a chance to read it. Other regional and issue-specific caucuses of Liberal MPs have either discussed the matter already, or plan to meet to discuss her and Philpott’s status in caucus.

In the letter, Wilson-Raybould says that the choice is ultimately up to her Liberal colleagues, but she implores them to consider that “the choice that is before you is about what kind of party you want to be a part of, what values it will uphold, the vision that animates it, and indeed the type of people it will attract and make it up.”

“If indeed our caucus is to be a microcosm of the country it is about whether we are a caucus of inclusion or exclusion; of dialogue and searching for understanding or shutting out challenging views and perspectives; and ultimately of the old ways of doing business, or new ones that look to the future,” she wrote.

In the letter she also spoke of the Liberals’ 2015 election commitment to do politics differently, more transparently, and by empowering MPs.

“I believed we were going to uphold the highest standards that support the public interest, and not simply make choices to create partisan advantage,” she wrote.

She said the vision that the Liberals came into power with was “one of the main reasons I had no hesitation to stand up for what I believed to be right and necessary for the country since September 2018 regarding SNC-Lavalin was because of my belief in that vision.”

Wilson-Raybould has alleged that she faced high-level "veiled threats" and attempted political interference in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin from nearly a dozen senior government officials, have dominated the political agenda in Ottawa since they were first reported in February.

Since she testified to the allegations, Trudeau has faced calls to resign, the House of Commons has been largely usurped by opposition-prompted procedural moves, and several other high-profile officials have resigned amid insistence that nothing improper occurred.

On their way into the Ontario caucus meeting, most MPs declined to comment, saying that what happens in caucus is meant to stay in caucus, and that’s where they would be sharing their views.

Over the last two days, numerous Liberal MPs have been speaking out, and expressing disappointment and condemnation over Wilson-Raybould's decision to secretly record and subsequently make public a December conversation she had with Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick about SNC-Lavalin. Many Liberal have said their trust has been broken. That audio was released on Friday along with dozens of additional pages of testimony, text messages, transcripts, and copies of emails to supplement her Feb. 27 hours-long testimony.

"I do not believe that I should be removed from caucus for doing my job and doing what I believe is right," Wilson-Raybould told reporters on Parliament Hill late Monday.

CTV News has previously reported that during the regularly-scheduled Wednesday caucus meeting, some Liberal MPs were expected to get up and call for Wilson-Raybould's removal. Though, it is possible that with these various smaller caucus conversations happening already, and this evening's special meeting, these inner-caucus tensions around both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott's future in the Liberal caucus could be decided sooner rather than later.

To a lesser extent, MPs have expressed sentiment that Philpott should also be removed after she followed Wilson-Raybould in resigning from cabinet. Philpott has said that she lost confidence in the way the government was handling the SNC-Lavalin scandal, and believes that there is more to the controversy than the government disclosed.

"Both women should be given an opportunity to explain why they should stay in caucus, and then caucus should make a decision," Liberal MP John McKay said on CTV News Channel Tuesday morning.

"Caucus generally works on consensus and expresses its consensus to the prime minister, and in this instance it is the prime minister’s final decision," McKay said.

Trudeau had no comment on the matter on his way into Tuesday morning's cabinet meeting.

Philpott showed up to attend the Ontario caucus meeting, but left the room minutes later and would not explain why, and whether she was asked to leave.

She said that out of respect for her colleagues who were “having a really important meeting right now,” that it would be appropriate for her to comment right now.

When asked if she still had confidence in the prime minister, and whether she wanted to stay in the Liberal caucus, she did not respond.

Early Tuesday the House Justice Committee met behind closed doors to determine next steps for the new studies it decided to take on after ending its probe into the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The opposition did try to revive its proposal to resume the study that Liberal MPs shut down a few weeks ago, but that was unsuccessful.

"People have had a large amount of time already… and they can submit their issues or their added thoughts in writing to the committee," said chair of the committee Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, denying that the study was ended prematurely given the amount of information that has come out in recent weeks.

Meanwhile in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre continued his second day of filibustering the budget debate. He has said he will continue to talk out the clock during the hours allotted for debate on the 2019 budget, until the Liberals agree to continue studying the SNC-Lavalin scandal, and allow the committee to hear from a dozen witnesses they say have been "implicated" in the ongoing scandal, including several senior PMO officials.</s>Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, is calling out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the removal of the former Attorney General and Justice Minister and former Treasury Board President.

“We are absolutely disgusted that Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have been kicked out of the Liberal caucus and dropped as candidates because they chose to act honorably and with integrity regarding the SNC-Lavalin scandal rather than kowtow to Liberal political pressure. Apparently, this equates to being ‘untrustworthy’ in the shifty eyes of Justin Trudeau, who is clearly committed to propping up cronyism and the old boys’ network,” said Phillip in a news release.

READ ALSO: Trudeau says Wilson-Raybould, Philpott no longer Liberal caucus members

Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were kicked out of the Liberal caucus on Tuesday as the fallout continues in the SNC-Lavalin affair. Wilson-Raybould accused political interference by the Prime Minister’s Office in the criminal prosectution of the engineering firm.

READ ALSO: Supporters in Vancouver riding would back Wilson-Raybould as an Independent

Phillip, former Penticton Indian Band Chief, is among the growing number of supporters voicing their disappointment. According to the Canadian Press, supporters in Vancouver Granville have stood by their MP and on Wednesday the vice-president of a Chilliwack-Hope Liberal riding association has quit.

Phillip said Trudeau and his party are ready to sweep serious corruption and fraud charges under the rug.

“This type of shoddy, slimy backroom politics, is the exact opposite to the ‘new kind of government’ that Trudeau and his sunny ways promised. How can the Liberals be considered a united team if members of their office have inappropriately sought to interfere with and undermine Jody Wilson-Raybould’s actions regarding the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin?”

UBCIC secretary treasurer Kukpi7 Judy Wilson said “Canada has hit yet another low in its treatment of Indigenous peoples.”

“Justin Trudeau’s ministerial mandate letters all claim that ‘no relationship is more important to Canada than the one with Indigenous peoples.’ This couldn’t be further from the truth, as the first Indigenous Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was kicked out of caucus for upholding the law. We hold up our hands to Jody Wilson-Raybould for her fierce advocacy, honesty and commitment to speak the truth and we applaud Dr. Philpott for standing up for our government’s democratic institutions and refusing to stay quiet while the Liberal Party incited a gaslighting of Wilson-Raybould to justify their own unconscionable behavior, including lying to the public about inappropriately pressuring Wilson-Raybould.”

@PentictonNews 

newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>‘I have just been informed by the Prime Minister of Canada that I am removed from the Liberal caucus,’ she said in a statement

Former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has kicked her out of the Liberal caucus.

Wilson-Raybould, who wrote to her fellow Liberals earlier today in hopes of convincing them to let her stay, stepped down from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet in February after he shuffled her out of the coveted justice portfolio.

Jane Philpott followed suit three weeks later, surrendering her role as Indigenous services minister over what she called a lack of confidence in how the Prime Minister’s Office had handled the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

It’s the latest twist in the turmoil that has roiled the top ranks of the Trudeau government for weeks, fuelled by allegations that Wilson-Raybould was improperly pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the Montreal-based engineering firm.

And it comes on the heels of a fresh uproar over a key phone conversation between the ex-minister and former Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick, the country’s top bureaucrat — a conversation Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded.

That recording was released Friday as part of her evidence of what Wilson-Raybould calls an intense pressure campaign to persuade her to override a decision to deny SNC-Lavalin a remediation agreement, which would allow the engineering giant to avoid criminal proceedings on corruption and fraud charges.

More to come.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday moved to end the worst crisis of his tenure, expelling two former cabinet members whom he said had undermined the ruling Liberal Party.

Trudeau announced that former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former treasury board minister Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators.

The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her to ensure construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escaped a corruption trial when she was justice minister last year.

“The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken,” Trudeau told an emergency meeting of caucus.

“Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We can’t afford to make that mistake – Canadians are counting on us,” said Trudeau, who came into office in November 2015 and faces a re-election contest this year.

Wilson-Raybould was demoted in January and resigned the next month. Philpott quit shortly afterwards, saying she had lost confidence in how Trudeau was handling the matter.

The move represents a retreat by Trudeau who as recently as last week had said the Liberals needed strong legislators with differing points of view.

But increasingly angry parliamentarians had demanded both women be removed from caucus on the grounds they were undermining party unity.

Polls show the crisis has cut public support for the Liberals to such an extent that they could lose an October election to the official opposition Conservatives.

Trudeau has denied any wrongdoing. The scandal is starting to hit his fortunes in the populous province of Quebec, where the Liberals say they need to pick up seats in October to remain in power.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau’s decision to expel the two politicians from the Liberal Party sent a message that “if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party”.

Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter that Trudeau had also told her she could not run for the Liberals in the October election.

Philpott said on Facebook that she “did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister”.</s>The Latest: Canada's Trudeau says ex-minister out of caucus

TORONTO (AP) — The Latest on Canada's ex-attorney general (all times local):

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says former Cabinet minister Jane Philpott has also been kicked out of the Liberal Party caucus.

Trudeau cited repeated questioning of his leadership as well as the fact that former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould publicized a secretly recorded conversation she had with Michael Wernick, Canada's top civil servant.

The scandal has rocked Trudeau's government in an election year.

Wilson-Raybould believes she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister to minister of veterans' affairs because she didn't give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company so that it would avoid a potentially crippling criminal prosecution.

The scandal has led to multiple resignations and damaged the party for eight weeks.

In a letter released before she was removed, Wilson-Raybould acknowledged her colleagues are enraged but said she was "trying to help protect the Prime Minister and the government from a horrible mess."

Canada's former attorney general says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told her she's been removed from the Liberal party caucus amid a scandal that has rocked Trudeau's government in an election year.

Jody Wilson-Raybould tweeted Tuesday that Trudeau removed her and will not be a Liberal candidate in the fall election.

Truderau and Liberal lawmakers were meeting Tuesday evening to discuss Wilson-Raybould after she publicized a secretly recorded conversation she had with Michael Wernick, Canada's top civil servant.

Wilson-Raybould believes she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister to minister of veterans' affairs because she didn't give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company so that it would avoid a potentially crippling criminal prosecution.

The scandal has led to multiple resignations and damaged the party for eight weeks.

In a letter, Wilson-Raybould acknowledged her colleagues are enraged but said she was "trying to help protect the Prime Minister and the government from a horrible mess."

Canada's former attorney general pleaded with her colleagues Tuesday to let her remain in the Liberal party caucus amid a scandal that has rocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in an election year.

Liberal lawmakers are expected to vote as soon as Tuesday evening to oust Jody Wilson-Raybould after she publicized a secretly recorded conversation she had with Michael Wernick, Canada's top civil servant.

Trudeau is meeting with Liberal lawmakers and will make remarks to the media after.

Wilson-Raybould believes she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister to minister of veterans' affairs because she didn't give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company so that it would avoid a potentially crippling criminal prosecution.

The scandal has led to multiple resignations and damaged the party for eight weeks.

In a letter, Wilson-Raybould acknowledged her colleagues are enraged but said she was "trying to help protect the Prime Minister and the government from a horrible mess."

"Now I know many of you are angry, hurt, and frustrated. And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself. I am angry, hurt, and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to," Wilson-Raybould wrote to colleagues.

"Ultimately the choice that is before you is about what kind of party you want to be a part of, what values it will uphold, the vision that animates it, and indeed the type of people it will attract and make it up."

Trudeau has been on the defensive since the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Feb. 7 via sources that Trudeau's staff put pressure on Wilson-Raybould. She denied she was the source of the story, writing "I am not the one who tried to interfere in sensitive proceedings, I am not the one who made it public, and I am not the one who publicly denied what happened."

The secret recording Wilson-Raybould made public shows Wernick telling Wilson-Raybould that Trudeau "is determined, quite firm" in finding a way to avoid a prosecution that could put 9,000 jobs at risk.

It also reveals Wilson-Raybould saying she regards the pressure as "inappropriate."

Wilson-Raybould has refused to express support for Trudeau, a demand many Liberal lawmakers say is necessary if she is to remain in Parliament as part of the party caucus.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said he expected Wilson-Raybould to be expelled.

"Her letter, I believe, sets the stage for her run at the Liberal leadership if the Liberals lose in October and Justin Trudeau steps down," Wiseman said.

"She is a victim of the parliamentary system which in Canada imposes sturdier party discipline than in any of the other Westminster parliamentary systems. The letter reveals her naiveté, as a rookie Member of Parliament, about how the system works."

The Liberal caucus could also vote to remove Jane Philpott, a former Cabinet minister who stepped from her role after she said she lost confidence in how the government has handled the affair.</s>TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ousted Canada's former attorney general from the Liberal party caucus Tuesday amid a scandal that has rocked his government in an election year.

Jody Wilson-Raybould tweeted that Trudeau had removed her and she will not be a Liberal candidate in the fall election.

"I have just been informed by the Prime Minister of Canada that I am removed from the Liberal caucus and as the confirmed Vancouver Granville candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election. More to come..."

Trudeau and Liberal lawmakers met Tuesday evening to discuss Wilson-Raybould after she publicized a secretly recorded conversation she had with Michael Wernick, Canada's top civil servant.

Wilson-Raybould believes she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister to veterans' affairs minister in January because she didn't give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company so that it would avoid a potentially crippling criminal prosecution.

The scandal has led to multiple resignations and damaged the party for eight weeks.

In a letter earlier Tuesday, Wilson-Raybould pleaded with her colleagues to remain and acknowledged her colleagues are enraged but said she was "trying to help protect the Prime Minister and the government from a horrible mess."

"Now I know many of you are angry, hurt, and frustrated. And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself. I am angry, hurt, and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to," Wilson-Raybould wrote to colleagues earlier Tuesday.

"Ultimately the choice that is before you is about what kind of party you want to be a part of, what values it will uphold, the vision that animates it, and indeed the type of people it will attract and make it up."

Trudeau has been on the defensive since the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Feb. 7 via sources that Trudeau's staff put pressure on Wilson-Raybould. She denied she was the source of the story, writing "I am not the one who tried to interfere in sensitive proceedings, I am not the one who made it public, and I am not the one who publicly denied what happened."

The secret recording Wilson-Raybould made public shows Wernick telling Wilson-Raybould that Trudeau "is determined, quite firm" in finding a way to avoid a prosecution that could put 9,000 jobs at risk.

It also reveals Wilson-Raybould saying she regards the pressure as "inappropriate."

Wilson-Raybould has refused to express support for Trudeau, a demand many Liberal lawmakers say is necessary if she is to remain in Parliament as part of the party caucus.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said her letter is part of an attempt to eventually replace Trudeau.

"Her letter, I believe, sets the stage for her run at the Liberal leadership if the Liberals lose in October and Justin Trudeau steps down," Wiseman said.

"She is a victim of the parliamentary system which in Canada imposes sturdier party discipline than in any of the other Westminster parliamentary systems. The letter reveals her naiveté, as a rookie Member of Parliament, about how the system works."

The Liberal caucus could also vote to remove Jane Philpott, a former Cabinet minister who stepped from her role after she said she lost confidence in how the government has handled the affair.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expels former ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal Party of Canada.