"Let her speak!" Conservatives, NDP scold Liberals

Opposition parties were not shy to press the Prime Minister to call for a public inquiry and waive his solicitor-client privilege so that they can finally get the truth behind the allegations that the PMO pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould not to prosecute SNC-Lavalin.

The Trudeau government walked into the house of commons on Tuesday presumably feeling as though they needed to be prepared for the scolding of the century.

The Trudeau government and the Liberals are currently embroiled in a scandal that has turned their party upside down in recent weeks, as Trudeau’s closet full of skeletons finally broke the hinges off the proverbial door.

Fireworks were expected to fly on Tuesday, as already, outside the doors of the parliament, protestors from across the country stood in the freezing cold.

The Albertan Truck convoy reached Ottawa Tuesday morning and along with Canada's Yellow Vests came a flurry of counter protestors.

Within the confines of the parliament building, though, was a battle in its own right. The Scheer-led conservatives were ready to pounce on every sign of carelessness, ignorance, and weakness that the Trudeau liberals have been showing over the last few weeks.

Question period was intense, and depending on what side of the political spectrum you lean on, it was either a hoot, or an embarrassment.

First off, the NDP called for a public inquiry into the events leading to the resignations of Liberal cabinet members, and a motion from the Tories demanded Trudeau to waive his solicitor-client privilege to finally let Wilson-Raybould speak.

(Motions are not binding but they force MPs and ministers to take public positions by voting and they can put pressure on the government.)

Butts, who shocked everyone by resigning yesterday, was not named in the accusations. Butts had said that he was resigning because he had “become a distraction to the government’s work,” and insists no wrongdoing.

Critics questioned why Butts would resign, in that case, and the woman at the centre of the allegations has yet to give her own side of the story.

Wilson-Raybould on the other hand has yet to say anything publicly and has hired former Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell to advise her on what she can and cannot say.

Conservative Leader Scheer did not hold back, and proceeded to jab at the Liberals as he has consistently been doing since the scandal broke, saying that Canada cannot claim to be a country based on the rule of law if the PMO is dictating the course of justice.

“The prime minister has kept her silent in order to protect himself,” Scheer alleged against Trudeau.

Trudeau met with his cabinet Tuesday morning for the first time since the allegations occurred. Trudeau normally stops to speak to reporters on his way into weekly cabinet meetings but walked by without saying a word this time, probably unwilling to acknowledge the heavy media scrutiny awaiting him.

Some cabinet ministers also seem to want to know more about what happened between the Prime Minister’s Office and Wilson-Raybould. Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, however, echoed Virani’s position that the ethics commissioner is the best official to help with that.

“Obviously everyone, every Canadian, all of us, we want to shed some lights on the recent events,” he said. “I’m very happy personally that the ethics commissioner, which is impartial and independent, has taken the task to bring the light to that."