Ottawa, ON (WNews) — Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have both been kicked out of the Liberal caucus on Tuesday, 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.
Wilson-Raybould, whose explosive allegations of political interference of SNC 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.
Wilson-Raybould in February released statements that the PMO office was trying to interfere with a criminal investigation of SNC-Lavalin. On Friday, Wilson-Raybould made a bombshell release of an audio recording from a phone call with a person from the Prime Minister office.
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.
In his speech, Justin Trudeau said he had tried to show “patience and understanding” with the complaints of Wilson-Raybould and Philpott but had to eject them because being in caucus comes with “rights and responsibilities.” The party confirmed that the two can’t run as Liberal for this coming election.
Online the reaction has been mix with most people saying that the Liberal party did the worst thing possible. Some users have also mentioned that Jody deserves being kicked out for recording the phone call. Canada has a one-party consent which means one person can give consent for recording audio. Some have compared Trudeau to Donald Trump with his actions of kicking people out if they don’t agree with the person.
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