Ottawa: A second member of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet has resigned, saying she has lost confidence in the government’s handling of a corruption inquiry. cannounced her decision to step down as the Treasury Board President on Monday. She posted her resignation letter detailing her “serious concerns” with “evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former Attorney General to intervene in the criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin”, the BBC reported.
Philpott expressed unhappiness about the government’s response to allegations that officials inappropriately pressured former Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould in 21018 to help the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc avoid a corruption trial. Wilson-Raybould resigned from the Cabinet on February 2. Days later, on February 27, she accused Trudeau, some of his top advisers and other members of the government, of pressuring her to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a corruption trial.
“It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our Attorney General should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases,” Philpott wrote in her resignation letter. “Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised.” The former family physician has held key portfolios in Trudeau’s Cabinet — health, indigenous services and, until this week, Treasury Board President — since being elected in 2015. She will remain on as a Liberal member of Parliament.
