In Canada, Leader of the Opposition calls for criminal investigation of Trudeau

Canadian Conservative opposition leader Andrew Scheer announced Monday that he has asked police to launch a criminal investigation into Justin Trudeau, after being called into question by an official report accusing him of violating the Conflict of Rights Act. interests.

Andrew Scheer, who will seek the succession of Justin Trudeau in the next general election in October, wrote Monday to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, Federal Police) to suggest he investigate a possible "obstruction of justice"Prime Minister.

We know that he violated the law

The Ethics Commissioner, an independent top official, concluded on Wednesday that the prime minister had violated the conflict of interest law by pressuring his justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to intercede. favor of a Quebec company, SNC-Lavalin, to avoid a criminal trial for corruption.

"We know that he violated the law"on conflict of interest, said the leader of the conservative party at a press conference."We must now know if he committed a crime".

Late last week, Jody Wilson-Raybould said that the RCMP had contacted her earlier this year in the case.

"Today, in light of the findings of the Ethics Commissioner and revelations of previous involvement of the RCMP, I formally asked the RCMP to reconsider"this case, said Andrew Scheer.

Trudeau says he acted to "defend jobs"

Justin Trudeau has "assumed mistakes"but refused to apologize, considering that he had acted for"to defend the jobs of CanadiansThe report of the Ethics Commissioner has had the effect of a bombshell in Canada two months before the legislative elections, which give the Liberals and Conservatives side-by-side.

The Conservative leader had already called for an RCMP investigation when the SNC-Lavalin scandal erupted last February, to no avail.

Justin Trudeau has always denied having acted inappropriately, highlighting the many job losses related to a possible conviction, which would deprive the company of lucrative public contracts for 10 years.

SNC-Lavalin, which employs approximately 9,000 employees in Canada, was charged in 2015 with paying C $ 47 million (€ 31 million) in bribes between 2001 and 2011 to obtain contracts in Libya during the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

At the end of May, a Canadian judge ruled that there were sufficient evidence to summon the company to appear.