Will Jody Wilson-Raybould leave the Liberals and join another party?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Given what appears to be a strained relationship between the Prime Minister and former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould during this SNC Lavalin affair, a local political scientist says her leaving the party is a possibility.

Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, says it could happen, but it likely wouldn’t be a good move for her politically. He says doing something like that likely wouldn’t go over well with voters.

“Voters do generally feel that they elect people as party representatives, and don’t respond well when people cross the floor,” he says. “With the election just six months out, I think Jody Wilson-Raybould would have to think about that very carefully.”

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Having decided to leave Cabinet, he says its not clear if she will be comfortable or welcome in Liberal caucus right now, and other parties may be reaching out, asking her to join them.

Telford says the Liberal party has already sustained some damage because of the ongoing controversy, and having Wilson-Raybould leave the party would only make that worse.

“There’s already been considerable damage done to the Liberal party and the Liberal government by her resignation from Cabinet, and it would be even more damaging to the Liberals should she leave the caucus, and especially if she crossed the floor,” he says.

NDP’s Jagmeet Singh says he respects Wilson-Raybould

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he has a lot of respect for the former Attorney General, but he’s non-committal when asked if he’d like Jody Wilson-Raybould to cross the floor and join his party.

“I respect the work that she’s done. I respect the stand she’s taken. My focus right now is on getting these questions answered. If and when and how the government, Mr. Trudeau, pressured the Attorney General and if they removed the Attorney General from her portfolio –fired her because she stood up and said no,” he says.

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“She’s taken a strong stance and I acknowledge her commitment to principles of the role of the Attorney General and I think that her resignation letter was very telling in the commitment to the importance of being non-partisan –particularly when it comes to the administration of justice.”

He adds pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to come clean on exactly why the former Justice Minister was fired, and whether or not she joins his party is not a priority right now.

“We were at the same event and I mentioned that she’d taken a bold and creative stance. Again, my focus right now is on getting Mr. Trudeau to answer the question and anyone involved to explain what happened –what they did,” he says.

Singh is currently campaigning for a seat in the House of Commons which requires him winning the Burnaby-South byelection on February 25th.