The leader of the Opposition is again trying to provoke the Prime Minister into following through on his lawsuit threat

OTTAWA — Andrew Scheer is trying to provoke Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into following through on his threat to sue him over allegedly libellous criticism of the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The Conservative leader has repeated, word for word, the March 29 statement that prompted Trudeau’s lawyer, Julian Porter, to send him notice of a potential libel suit.

For good measure, he’s done it outside the House of Commons, so parliamentary privilege won’t protect him.

Question Period begins and Conservative Leader @AndrewScheer kicks it off by again asking for the Prime Minister to sue him. #cdnpoli — Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) April 10, 2019

Scheer accuses Trudeau of leading a campaign to interfere with the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin and directing Canada’s former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to break the law.

Trudeau says he put Scheer on notice because the Conservatives have a history of making misleading and defamatory statements.

He says he won’t “stand idly by” and allow that to happen.