‘I stand by every criticism I have made’: Scheer pushes Trudeau to follow through with libel threat

Andrew Scheer has challenged the Justin Trudeau to follow through on a threat to sue him over his public criticism that the prime minister interfered with the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavlin.

Scheer, leader of the Conservative party, revealed this morning that he received a letter from Trudeau’s lawyer on March 31 threatening a libel suit.

“I stand by every single criticism I have made of Justin Trudeau’s behaviour in this scandal,” said Scheer. “If Trudeau intends to sue me, if he believes he has a case against me, he should get on with it.”

Scheer also shared a letter that his lawyers sent back to Trudeau today. It states that the prime minister’s complaint is “entirely without merit,” and that Scheer “will not be intimidated.”

I stand by every single criticism I have made of Justin Trudeau’s behaviour in this scandal. If Trudeau intends to sue me, if he believes he has a case against me, he should get on with it.

This is the letter my lawyers sent to Justin Trudeau today. pic.twitter.com/UcHShl8EaK

— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) April 7, 2019

“Mr. Scheer looks forward to obtaining the prime minister’s evidence under oath and having this matter heard in open court,” the letter says.

Scheer’s lawyers also stated in the letter that the prime minister should immediately take steps to preserve all relevant documents and notify all members of his government involved in the matter that they can expect to be called to testify.

Scheer called the letter an intimidation tactic, which he added is that same tactic that was used to silence former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould.

"Canadians want this scandal to be investigated where Liberals can’t pull the strings and shut things down, like they did at the Justice and Ethics committees," said Scheer. "And I welcome the opportunity to question Trudeau directly at the earliest possible date. I look forward to him testifying under oath in front of Canadians in open court."

Wilson-Raybould has maintained that she was inappropriately pressured last fall by the Prime Minister’s Office to stop criminal proceedings against SNC-Lavalin on bribery charges related to contracts in Libya.

She believes she was moved to Veterans Affairs in a mid-January cabinet shuffle as punishment for refusing to do so.

Last week, Trudeau expelled both Wilson-Raybould and fellow former cabinet minister Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus.

Philpott had resigned from cabinet in early March, citing a loss of confidence in the government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin case.

-With files from the Canadian Press.