By Joan Bryden and Kristy Kirkup
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh are calling for an ethics probe into allegations the Prime Minister's Office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal prosecution.
Conservatives on the House of Commons justice committee, along with the New Democrats, will also force an emergency meeting to consider a motion calling on nine high-ranking government officials to testify on it, Scheer said.
The list includes Wilson-Raybould herself, Justice Minister David Lametti, the prime minister's chief of staff Katie Telford and the prime minister's principal secretary Gerald Butts.
The prime minister should have nothing to fear from an independent investigation by the federal ethics commissioner, Singh said separately.
The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that Wilson-Raybould was demoted in a cabinet shuffle early last month because she wouldn't intervene in the case of SNC-Lavalin.
The Quebec engineering and construction giant has been charged with bribery and corruption in a bid to secure government business in Libya and wanted a deal, allowed under the law, to pay reparations rather than be prosecuted.