The crisis engulfing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is deepening, with the self-avowed feminist reeling as high-profile female lawmakers jump ship amid an ethics uproar.
Canadian Treasury Board President Jane Philpott — seen as one of his team’s star performers — on Monday quit the Cabinet amid questions about Trudeau’s efforts to snuff out corruption charges against Montreal construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
Philpott said she could no longer back the government.
The Treasury Board president follows Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general who says she was pressured by Trudeau and key aides into ending prosecution of the company.
Another Canadian lawmaker, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, has declined to seek re-election. While she said her decision was not related to SNC-Lavalin, she publicly cheered on Philpott and Wilson-Raybould.
It all leaves Trudeau without two of the highest profile women in his famously gender-balanced Cabinet.
“Because it’s 2015” is how Trudeau explained the 50-50 lineup after a convincing election victory four years ago.
However, amid the scandal he faces weakening party solidarity and sagging poll numbers.
As head of the Treasury Board, Philpott — a doctor from a Toronto-area district — would have carried out many of the nuts-and-bolts efforts of the government’s agenda in the buildup to the October election. Instead, she said she could not back the government because of the SNC-Lavalin controversy.
“The evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former attorney general to intervene in the criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin and the evidence as to the content of those efforts have raised serious concerns for me,” Philpott said 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.”
There is a gendered thread to the defections. Wilson-Raybould lauded Philpott’s decision on Monday, calling her a “mother of country.”
The former treasury board head, who previously served as health minister, was among a handful of Liberal lawmakers who voiced support for Wilson-Raybould after her exit. The former attorney general then returned the favor.
“You are a leader of vision & strength & I look forward to continuing to work alongside you,” Wilson-Raybould tweeted.
Caesar-Chavannes — a one-time parliamentary secretary to Trudeau — also celebrated the move.
“When you add women, please do not expect the status quo. Expect us to make correct decisions, stand for what is right and exit when values are compromised,” she wrote on Twitter.
Trudeau was elected under a pledge of “real change,” while leading a party with a long history of backroom deals. Part of his wave included many new faces — Wilson-Raybould, Philpott and Caesar-Chavannes were all elected for the first time in 2015.
Trudeau bet on the new blood when he froze out much of his party’s old guard, including senators appointed by his predecessors. He also trumpeted the need to bring diversity to the decisionmaking process.
Wilson-Raybould was the country’s first indigenous attorney general, while Caesar-Chavannes is one of only a handful of black lawmakers in Trudeau’s caucus.
The departures leave Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland as one of the few women holding a major Cabinet post, along with Carla Qualtrough, the former procurement minister who was named acting Treasury Board president to replace Philpott.
Freeland, who led negotiations over the revamped North American Free Trade Agreement, has so far stood by the prime minister.
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