Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is threatening to sue him over the S-N-C Lavalin controversy, but Scheer is welcoming a lawsuit.
He says he received a letter on March 31st from Trudeau's lawyer threatening a libel suit.
Scheer calls that "an intimidation tactic.''
At a news conference in Ottawa today, Scheer challenged Trudeau to follow--through with this threats to take him to court.
"If Mr. Trudeau intends to pursue this course of legal action. If he believes he has a case against me. I urge him to do so immediately. This is an urgent matter of public interest and it deserves to be heard in a legal setting where Liberal do not control the proceedings."
The Tories have been hammering Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the SNC-Lavalin affair since the Globe and Mail first broke the story in early February.
Trudeau's former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, maintains she was inappropriately pressured by the Prime Minister's Office to intervene to stop criminal proceedings against Montreal-based engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin.
The director of public prosecutions decided last fall not to negotiate a deferred-prosecution agreement with the company, which is facing charges of bribery related to business in Libya.
Wilson-Raybould later resigned from cabinet, claiming she had been removed from her post in a January shuffle because she wouldn't bow to the pressure from Trudeau and others.
Last week, Trudeau expelled Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus for what he described as breaking the bonds of trust with their fellow MPs over the government's handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has repeatedly accused Trudeau of a coverup, and demanded the Prime Minister resign.
He released a letter today, from his lawyer, sent to Trudeau. It was posted on his Twitter account:
