Philpott Says Trudeau's Caucus Expulsions Violate Canada Act

On Tuesday, Former Treasury Secretary and Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Jane Philpott said that Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau's sacking of her and former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, from the Liberal Caucus, is a violation of the Parliament of Canada Act.

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During a meeting at the House of Commons, the former treasury secretary asked the Speaker of the House, the Honourable Geoff Regan, to review Trudeau's expulsions to determine whether their rights, as members of Parliament, have been breached.

According to the rules set by section 49 of the Parliament of Canada Act, at least 20 percent of the Liberal Caucus would first need to write a letter requesting that the MP's memberships be examined. Once that step is taken, the overall caucus votes through secret ballot. Majority vote is required to approve the expulsions, with at least 90 affirmative votes out of the 179 Liberal MPs.

Before the decision to expel both MP's was announced, Trudeau held an emergency caucus meeting claiming the decision to be his own. Philpott pointed out that "the prime minister's words that night to the Liberal Caucus are important to underscore because expulsion should not be his decision to take unilaterally. However, the decision had been already made."

"The prime minister deprived members of their rights to determine the expulsion of a caucus colleague on a secret ballot vote and their right to determine the readmittance of a Liberal member to the caucus on a secret ballot vote," Philpott explained.

Regan has since taken the complaints into consideration and has also committed to reporting back at a later time.

Trudeau, in the meantime, defends his decision, by stating that he had "consulted extensively" with the caucus before giving the MPs the boot. "It was my decision to make but the fact that the caucus was clear and united on that made my decision easier."

Liberal MPs supportive of the decision have also stated that at the start of this Parliament, the caucus decided to withdraw the adoption of this specific portion of the law. Philpott and Wilson-Raybould were also a part of this decision. Whether this formality addresses all breaches brought up by Philpott is yet to be determined.

Philpott and Wilson-Raybould resigned from Trudeau's cabinet following disagreements with the PM on how to handle a corruption case with Quebec-based company SNC-Lavalin.