Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the RCMP covered up for former prime minister Justin Trudeau in cases that would otherwise have led to criminal charges.
In a recent interview with a YouTube channel called Northern Perspective, Poilievre said the leadership of the RCMP is "despicable" and said many of the scandals of the Trudeau era "should have involved jail time."
Poilievre said the former prime minister "probably" violated the Criminal Code during the SNC-Lavalin affair.
"These would normally have led to criminal charges, but of course the RCMP covered it all up," he said.
In 2023, the Conservatives argued that the Liberals, NDP and Bloc censored the RCMP by shutting down the RCMP commissioner’s testimony on the SNC-Lavalin scandal in a parliamentary committee meeting.
In the interview, Poilievre also said Trudeau broke the law when he took a "free vacation from someone with whom he had government business," alluding to the 2016 Aga Khan scandal.
"If the RCMP had been doing its job and not covering up for him, then he would have been criminally charged," Poilievre said.
Poilievre offered no proof of a cover-up.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Toronto Thursday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the SNC-Lavalin affair was discussed "quite a lot" under the previous government and there was no political interference.
"I don't take any orders from any political individual," Duheme said.
Duheme invited Poilievre to meet with the RCMP to discuss his comments about the organization's management.
An emailed statement from a Poilievre spokesperson said while the RCMP plays "an important role" in protecting Canadians, "RCMP leadership passively accepted Justin Trudeau withholding key witnesses and evidence from investigation" in the SNC Lavalin affair."
"They also declined to pursue a criminal prosecution of Justin Trudeau’s 2016 Christmas vacation to the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas, for which he was found guilty in 2017 of four violations of the federal Conflict of Interests Act," the statement added.
In an email, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Poilievre's comments are "deeply irresponsible" and risk undermining trust in the national institution.
He said Canadians can have full confidence in the RCMP and in its independence from political interference.
"The RCMP operates free from direction by elected officials, regardless of who is in government," said Anandasangaree. "Suggesting that Canada’s national police force engages in political cover-ups without evidence is not leadership — it is an attack on the impartiality of law enforcement in our country.
"Political leaders should respect the work of the RCMP rather than attempt to erode public confidence in the dedicated officers who serve and protect Canadians every day from coast to coast to coast."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
