Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen in the House of Commons in a file photo. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

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Good evening to you.

CTV is reporting that the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould’s professional relationship “first began to fray” back in 2017 because of concerns over who to name to the Supreme Court. Citing sources, Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould reportedly disagreed over the latter’s recommendation of Manitoba Justice Glenn D. Joyal to fill the vacancy on the court. Trudeau was apparently concerned that Joyal wasn’t “committed to protecting rights that have flown out of interpretation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” namely LGBTQ2 rights and abortion access. She also apparently recommended that he be named chief justice to replace the retiring Beverley McLachlin.

However, Trudeau quashed her recommendation, naming Alberta judge Sheilah Martin to the court and appointing Richard Wagner chief justice.

Staying with the two, Trudeau said Monday during a media event in B.C. that he and Wilson-Raybould spoke last week about a possible path forward after she accused his office and senior government officials of pressuring her to interfere in the SNC-Lavalin case.

In the Metro Vancouver community of Maple Ridge, Trudeau said he had a “cordial” conversation with Wilson-Raybould last Monday. He said they discussed “next steps,” but did not elaborate on what exactly that entailed. He also noted that both she and Jane Philpott remain in the Liberal caucus despite criticism of the government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

“I look forward to continuing to engage with both Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott as they make their way forward,” he said, according to reporting by The Canadian Press.

“They have both indicated they look forward to running again as Liberals in the next election and I look forward to continuing to have their strong and thoughtful voices as part of our team.”

Back in Ottawa, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer told reporters that Trudeau should waive all confidences and privileges he believes are preventing former attorney general Wilson-Raybould from speaking freely about the SNC-Lavalin affair. The comments come as the House ethics committee is set to meet tomorrow to discuss a request by the Tory members to invite her to testify on the issue before them.

Scheer demanded that the Liberal MPs who form the majority on the committee let Wilson-Raybould testify after House justice committee voted against having her return last week.

Scheer said the concern about parliamentary immunity is it doesn’t “absolve” the former ministers from the oaths they had taken, referring to the cabinet pledge to the Privy Council Office to “keep secret all matters committed and revealed to me in this capacity, or that shall be secretly treated of in Council.”

Jolson Lim has more.

And as the CBC reports, Trudeau is not budging on his decision to not grant a more expansive waiver to Wilson-Raybould.

In Canada:

People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier says the party won’t do “anything special” to attract candidates that reflect Canada’s diversity as part of its online search for its candidates in the next election.

“I hope that our candidates will represent our country, but … we won’t do anything to attract people with different backgrounds. I think these people are coming right now,” Bernier told reporters in Ottawa on Monday.

Bernier said he “hopes” that the PPC has a “huge diversity” of candidates, but that it won’t impose any diversity requirements on those who run.

In comparison, part of the Liberal Party’s nomination process is to ensure that a “thorough search” has been conducted for women candidates or others who reflect the demographics of the riding they hope to be nominated in. The NDP have also instituted diversity-based rules recently, requiring that leadership candidates in 2017 collect 50 per cent of required signatures from women in the party, and 100 of the required 500 signatures from traditionally marginalized groups.

Bernier and Johanne Mennie, the party’s communications director, held the press conference to announce that the PPC had opened its online selection process for candidates. It will be open until April 23, with candidate selection meetings to follow between May 7 and May 13. Charlie Pinkerton has the latest.

Conservative MPs who sit on the House agriculture committee are trying to force the committee to hold an emergency meeting for a second time after Canada’s canola industry said Thursday it had been shut out of its largest export market.

In a letter to the committee’s clerk on Monday, Conservative Agriculture Critic Luc Berthold, former agriculture committee chair and Conservative MP Bev Shipley, and Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen, whose family operates a grain operation, said China’s decision to stop purchasing Canadian canola seed is “baseless.”

The three MPs said they are also concerned about reports Canadian exports of wheat and peas to China could face future delays. Forty per cent of the canola Canada exports is sent to China, with canola exports to that market valued at $2.7 billion in 2018. Kelsey Johnson reports.

An Alberta judge ruled Monday that former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr has completed his sentence for killing an American soldier in Afghanistan. In making the decision, Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Mary Moreau counted the time Khadr spent on conditional release for nearly four years as counting toward his eight-year sentence, which was imposed by a U.S. military court.

Khadr’s lawyer said they will continue their legal efforts to overturn his U.S. convictions but noted that under Youth Criminal Justice Act, the judge’s ruling on Monday can’t be appealed. Khadr was 15 when he was detained in Afghanistan after being accused of tossing a grenade that killed U.S. soldier Christopher Speer. CBC News has more.

The Trudeau government has announced that it will not follow the lead of the Trump administration in recognizing “permanent Israeli control” over the contested Golan Heights region, which Israel captured from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967. In a statement, Global Affairs said “Canada’s long-standing position remains unchanged” and claimed that any “unilateral border change goes against the foundation of the rules-based international order.”

The statement does declare that Canada is a “steadfast friend of Israel” and supports the country’s “right to live in peace and security with its neighbours.”

The Senate’s internal governing body has named Privy Council legal operations director Philippe Hallée its new law clerk and parliamentary counsel. His first day in the new position on April 22, according to a release sent out by the Senate internal economy, budgets and administration committee.

In Process Nerd: What to expect on the SNC-Lavalin committee front this week

In The Lobby Wrap: Labatt looks to introduce itself to parliamentarians

In The Sprout: Happy International Waffle Day

In The Drilldown: Shell switching UK customers to 100% renewable energy

In Other Headlines:

U of T receives $100-million gift for artificial intelligence and biomedicine complex, the school’s largest-ever donation (Toronto Star)

Apple launches news app in Canada, premium news subscription service (Global News)

Canada grants asylum to family who helped Edward Snowden (CBC)

Canadian man accused of spying in China gets visit by consular officials (CBC)

Lametti, opposition parties pledge to uphold Wilson-Raybould’s new rules for defending Indigenous lawsuits (Hill Times)

CRA cites ‘technical issues’ after website goes down (CBC)

Internationally:

After literally months of Donald Trump relentlessly declaring “no collusion” on the part of his campaign team and the Kremlin to tip the 2016 U.S. presidential election, special counsel Robert Mueller’s much-anticipated report has drawn similar conclusions. In doing so, the “most ominous cloud hanging” over Trump’s presidency “was all but lifted,” while undercutting the possible threat of impeachment, writes Peter Baker of the New York Times — a frequent Trump target for criticism.

Also writing in the Times, Jonathan Martin claims that the Mueller report’s release virtually ensured that Trump’s political fate would be decided by the voters in 2020, which in turn, intensifies the “pressure on Democrats to settle on a candidate and a policy agenda” that provides them with the best opportunity to defeat the president.

“Democrats should not focus too much on Mueller,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago said, noting that signs in the market suggest the economy is slowing. “The flashing yellow light in front of this president is the bond market and the prospect of a recession.”

For Trump, it’s clear that not only does he feel vindicated by Mueller’s report, even though it didn’t vindicate him against accusations of obstructing justice in turfing FBI director James Comey. The president says his “treasonous” critics are to blame for the inquiry, as the Times reports. Wonder if he includes former Attorney General Jeff Sessions on that list.

In more good news for Trump, the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Trump has been arrested on “charges of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to reveal negative publicity,” reports CNBC. If convicted, he faces up to almost 100 years in prison.

At least 14 civilians were killed in an airstrike carried out be American Forces in Afghanistan, according to reporting by Pakistan Today. A spokesperson for the American military maintained that the Taliban are to blame for the civilian deaths, saying that they “were hiding in civilian homes and manoeuvred in and out of compounds without any concern for the families living inside.”

In Featured Opinion:

Paul Koring: Mueller report should offer relief for all Americans

The Kicker:

Writing for the Guardian, Jack Bernhardt asks why the British media has been so quiet on reporting on the SNC-Lavalin controversy that threatens the Trudeau government.

That’s all for tonight.