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Leaked reports about a dispute between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould over a Supreme Court appointment drew condemnation from bar associations and MPs of all parties Tuesday as the controversy surrounding the SNC-Lavalin affair raged on.

Opposition MPs called the leaks an act of desperation meant to smear Wilson-Raybould and to justify Trudeau’s decision to move her out of the prestigious justice portfolio in January — a cabinet shuffle that touched off what’s become a full-blown political crisis for the governing Liberals.

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And even a Liberal MP called the leaks “outrageous.”

Canadian Bar Association president Ray Adlington said breaching the confidentiality of the judicial selection process “demeans the selection process and ultimately all those who hold the office of judge.”

The Canadian Press and CTV reported Monday that in 2017 Trudeau turned down Wilson-Raybould’s recommendation that Glenn Joyal be elevated from chief justice of Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench to chief justice of the Supreme Court. Sources, who were not authorized to comment publicly on the normally confidential judicial selection process, said Trudeau was concerned about Joyal’s conservative, restrictive approach to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.