Caucus expulsions had to happen, Bagnell says The Yukon’s MP says he was sad to see Tuesday’s expulsions of two one-time cabinet ministers from the Liberal party caucus. By Palak Mangat on April 3, 2019

The Yukon’s MP says he was sad to see Tuesday’s expulsions of two one-time cabinet ministers from the Liberal party caucus.

However, the vast majority of the group had lost confidence in ex-ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, and the deed had to be done, Larry Bagnell told the Star this morning from Ottawa.

“We’re all very sad; we lost two good colleagues, two very effective ministers,” Bagnell said.

But issues surrounding his Liberal government in the SNC-Lavalin affair have dogged the party for the last seven weeks, to an extent that it began taking a toll on the trust level among members of Parliament, he said.

“People are so distanced from Ottawa, they think government doesn’t work,” Bagnell said.

“The reason it works is because of these Wednesday morning caucus meetings,” where MPs can voice their concerns to ministers and the prime minister about a range of issues.

“Because it’s in confidence, you can trust everyone and you can really rant and make a strong case for things where you disagree with what the PM or minister is doing,” said Bagnell.

That level of trust, by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s own admission Tuesday, had eroded after Wilson-Raybould, the one-time attorney general and Justice minister, shared a secretly-recorded phone call with Michael Wernick, then the Clerk of the Privy Council.

On Dec. 19, 2018, they discussed allegations of political interference in the criminal case of SNC-Lavalin.

“The only way that works is if you have confidence in everyone in the room,” Bagnell said of the caucus meeting process that plays out on Wednesdays.

“And not (result in) a big debate or fight in public or controversial (event) that makes it impossible to move forward on issues.”

Bagnell was asked directly if he had lost that confidence himself. He said he would have continued his work representing the territory under any circumstances.

“I was a bit concerned when I heard about a telephone conversation being secretly taped though,” he said.

As of this morning, he had not fully listened to the 17-minute conversation, suggesting that the controversy was distracting him from other work.

“I was trying to keep up with all the things going on and I was getting behind in all my regular work,” he said. “I had to get back to that.

“I admired those women from the beginning because they believe in Liberal values and things like moving forward on climate change, on reconciliation, on a number of things,” Bagnell said.

The MP was also happy to see the pair’s intention to run again for their constituents – though they are barred from running as Liberals.

As for the party’s (and his) re-election chances this fall, Bagnell shied away from stating one way or another how he felt. “I’m just carrying on ... I just continue to do the job as best I can,” he said.

Pressed, Bagnell added that he never speculates, but “as they say, a week is an eternity in politics.

“I’m convinced that things we’ve been trying to work on the past four years ... those are things that affect people in their day-to-day lives.”

Among those accomplishments and continued focus, he said, are creation and defending jobs.

“Nothing can be worse than not having a job to feed your family,” he said. “Those are things we’re working on, and we’re proud to be able to put those before the electorate.”