OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be the justice minister in his cabinet if it wasn't for the resignation of former Treasury Board president Scott Brison.
Trudeau, who made the remarks in Ottawa Friday morning, says Brison's sudden decision to leave politics resulted in having to “move things around” on the team, including shuffling Wilson-Raybould into the veterans affairs portfolio.
Wilson-Raybould suddenly quit the cabinet this week, but Trudeau isn't saying what reasons she gave for her resignation.
He only says he accepts her decision, even if he doesn't totally understand it.
Last week, the Globe and Mail reported that Wilson-Raybould felt pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin rather than pursue a criminal trial on charges of bribery and fraud linked to the company's efforts to secure business in Libya.
Trudeau says he told Wilson-Raybould any decision on the file was hers alone after she asked him during a fall conversation if he was going to direct her on what to do.
On Thursday, committee chair Anthony Housefather told CTV’s Graham Richardson Wilson-Raybould may have been shuffled because she doesn’t speak French.
“There’s going to be extensive need in Quebec for somebody who has the justice file to speak to Quebeckers in French and she doesn’t speak French,” Housfather said. “So, there may be other reasons, very different reasons, from the ones that the Conservatives and the NDP are trying to frame why she may have been shuffled in cabinet.”
He would later apologize for the comment on Twitter.
Thanks @TerryGlavin this is my own error. I want to apologize to @Puglaas as I never should have tried to speculate about something like this. I have no direct knowledge. https://t.co/gpahNMT8cw
— Anthony Housefather (@AHousefather) February 14, 2019
Trudeau told reporters Wilson-Raybould's language proficiency was not an issue.
"That line of speculation is absolutely false," he said. "Of all the different considerations that could have come into play on the reason to shift roles in cabinet, the former attorney general's proficiency in both official languages was not one of them. Mr. Housefather's comments were wrong and I was pleased to hear him apologize for them."
With files from CTV News.