(Bloomberg) -- Justin Trudeau lost another cabinet minister over the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. controversy, which has dented his party in the polls ahead of a Canadian election this year.
In a letter posted online Monday, Jane Philpott resigned as president of the Treasury Board and said she has lost confidence with how the government has handled the matter.
Philpott said she could no longer defend all cabinet decisions. Her exit adds fuel to the controversy over whether Trudeau and his staff pressured their former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to intervene to end a legal case against the Montreal-based construction firm.
“The evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former Attorney General to intervene in the criminal case involving SNC-Lavalin and the evidence as to the content of those efforts have raised serious concerns for me,” Philpott said in her letter. “Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised.”
Philpott was among Trudeau’s most trusted cabinet ministers. Wilson-Raybould was moved to a different cabinet post in January, and resigned last month. Trudeau’s principal secretary has also quit.
The prime minister said Monday his government both respected judicial independence and pushed to defend jobs, reiterating that he contemplated helping the firm avoid a trial on corruption charges on economic grounds.
“We are always going to stand up for good jobs, create good jobs and defend Canadians’ interests,” Trudeau told reporters in Prince Edward Island.