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March 13th, 2019

NDP Calls on Liberals to Rebalance the Scales of Justice

OTTAWA – Today, at an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on Justice, NDP MP Tracey Ramsey (Essex) called once again for the Liberal government to show real leadership and transparency to Canadians by allowing the former Attorney General of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to tell a full account of the events that transpired with the Prime Minister's Office's interference scandal. Ramsey's motion was not defeated, instead, the Liberal MPs on the committee undemocratically called to abruptly end the meeting, refusing debate, denying transparency and withholding justice.

“Since we last heard from Ms. Wilson-Raybould, both the former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Gerald Butts, and the Prime Minister himself have been allowed to tell their sides of the story. The Clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick was allowed to return to the committee to clarify statements he made previously. Why would the Liberals not allow Ms. Wilson-Raybould to do the same? What are they afraid she’ll say?” stressed Ramsey, who was the NDP member at the committee.

Accounts coming from Trudeau, Wernick and Butts leave many questions unanswered and the NDP believes the only way Canadians will be able to hear the full story and get to the full truth behind this scandal, is to hold an independent, public inquiry. Ramsey also wanted to move a motion to bring other important witnesses in addition to Ms. Wilson-Raybould to committee, but the Liberal-held majority shut down the opportunity for debate.

“Canadians deserve to know the truth; they deserve a government that doesn’t have one set of rules for their rich corporate donor-friends and another set for everyone else. The Liberals are refusing to let Canadians find out the truth,” said Ramsey.