KAMLOOPS — AFTER THE HOURS-LONG TESTIMONY of former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould on Wednesday, there’s a clear path to getting the country out of this crisis.
I’ll get to what that is in a minute.
First of all, though, here’s the Cole’s Notes version of a remarkable day.
Wilson-Raybould spends 50 minutes at a justice committee meeting throwing Justin Trudeau under the bus for what she characterizes as “entirely inappropriate pressure” and “veiled threats.”
This is followed by Conservative and NDP committee members expressing admiration and 100-per-cent belief in everything she has said, and then making political speeches in the guise of questions.
Wilson-Raybould, to her credit, refuses to take the bait of this stunningly incompetent and biased questioning about such things as “how did you feel,” was she afraid of a smear campaign and other attempts to put words in her mouth.
Liberal members handle Wilson-Raybould with kid gloves while trying to get some answers that make Trudeau and the PMO look a little less horrible than they already do.
Wilson-Raybould responds by simply brushing off questions she considers “irrelevant” and is let off the hook numerous times.
In short order, Tory leader Andrew Sheer goes on TV demanding an RCMP investigation and Trudeau’s resignation. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants a public inquiry first, then a resignation.
Trudeau says he won’t resign, and denies everything she said.
Since this is so clearly a political and, by most analysis, not a legal matter, the logical course of action is for Trudeau to call a snap election and let voters decide who they have confidence in and who they don’t. Dragging this thing out until an October election is too painful to think about, so let’s do it now.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.
