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

Two Canadian politicians who were expelled from the Liberal party over the SNC-Lavalin affair are running again as independents.

Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have both announced their intention to seek re-election later this year.

The two former cabinet ministers had cried foul over how the Trudeau government was handling the prosecution of the Quebec firm.

The next Canadian general election is scheduled for this October.

"I am confident running as an independent is the best way to transform our political culture," Ms Wilson-Raybould told reporters in Vancouver on Monday.

In a separate announcement in a Toronto suburb, Ms Philpott also announced her intention to run again without any party affiliation.

Ms Philpott and Ms Wilson-Raybould both said that Canadians need to elect more politicians empowered to represent their constituents in the House of Commons.

Earlier this year, Ms Wilson-Raybould resigned from her cabinet post and accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his inner circle of attempting to meddle in a criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin.

Not long after, Ms Philpott - one of Mr Trudeau's top ministers - quit, saying she has lost confidence in the government's handling of the affair.

What is the background?

Both former ministers were central actors in a political controversy that dogged Mr Trudeau for weeks and hammered at his popularity.

The affair began in early February, when the Globe and Mail newspaper reported allegations of political interference in the case against SNC-Lavalin.

The newspaper reported that Mr Trudeau's office had pressured Ms Wilson-Raybould - at the time serving as federal justice minister and attorney general - to push the public prosecution service to consider a deferred prosecution agreement for the firm.

An attorney general is supposed to act independently with respect of his or her prosecutorial function.

On 12 February, Ms Wilson-Raybould resigned suddenly from cabinet.

She later testified before a parliamentary committee that, as attorney general, she and her staff had faced four months of a "sustained" and "inappropriate effort" to push for a possible agreement for SNC-Lavalin.

The agreement - similar to regimes in the US and the UK - essentially suspends prosecution while allowing a firm to agree instead to alternative terms or conditions.

Ms Philpott resigned shortly after.

In April, Mr Trudeau expelled both women from the Liberal party caucus, saying that trust had been broken between the two and other Liberal MPs.

SNC-Lavalin is one of the world's largest engineering and construction companies.

The company and two of its subsidiaries face fraud and corruption charges in relation to approximately C$48m ($36m; £28m) in bribes it is alleged to have offered to Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011.

It has openly lobbied to be allowed to enter into a remediation agreement instead of going to trial, saying it has cleaned house and changed its ways. </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> 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> MARKHAM, Ont. — Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are set to reveal their next moves today.

The former Liberal cabinet ministers, both of whom resigned over the SNC-Lavalin controversy, have scheduled announcements in their respective ridings.

Wilson-Raybould is the independent MP for the B.C. riding of Vancouver Granville and Philpott is the independent MP for the Ontario riding of Markham-Stouffville.

Neither has said what they have in mind, other than that constituents have been invited to meet with them as they share announcements about their political futures.
• Jody Wilson-Raybould’s last act as justice minister described as ‘inconsistent with democratic values’
• House speaker rules that Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould’s privileges were not breached in caucus ouster

Wilson-Raybould served as justice minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet before she was shuffled to the portfolio of veterans affairs in January.

She later revealed she thought the decision to move her out of the justice role was motivated by her handling of a request to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant, SNC-Lavalin.

Philpott, a former health minister, Indigenous-services minister and president of the Treasury Board, resigned from cabinet in early March over Trudeau’s handling of the affair.

In early April, both were ousted from the Liberal caucus. </s> Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott will put the questions to rest and announce their next steps on Monday morning.

Simultaneous press conferences are scheduled for around noon eastern time in which both former cabinet ministers will unveil their plans for what comes next. That comes after their ejections from the Liberal caucus in April for raising concerns about the allegations of attempted political interference at the heart of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Both have sat as Independent MPs ever since.

READ MORE: Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott kicked out of Liberal Party caucus

Wilson-Raybould, who as the former attorney general, named both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and 10 of his senior advisers in the scandal, resigned from cabinet in February after the allegations were first reported by the Globe and Mail.

Philpott followed suit and quit her post as president of the Treasury Board, saying the government wasn’t taking the allegations seriously enough.

WATCH BELOW: Philpott says SNC-Lavalin critics don’t realize Canadians expect more

In his decision to eject them both from the caucus, Trudeau also revoked both of their candidacies to run for the Liberal Party again this fall.

There has been speculation as to whether either will join another political party, run as independents, or leave political life altogether.

Wilson-Raybould, in particular, has been the subject of questions over whether she will run for the Greens.

She was spotted attending Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s wedding this spring and retweeted a Green Party Twitter post congratulating Paul Manly, their newest MP, for his win in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith byelection earlier in May.

— More to come … </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.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expels former ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal Party of Canada.