Poilievre pressed on his RCMP 'despicable' comments, denies saying Trudeau should have been jailed

The radioactive dust o'er conservativist Leader capital of south dakota Poilievre's comments well-nigh the RCMP and its leadership continued Wednesday as he sought to recast his assertion that some people deserved jail time for the last Liberal government's missteps.

In an interview with the YouTube channel Northern Perspective last week, Poilievre called the national police force's leadership "frankly just despicable" and accused it of "covering up" for former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

"Many of the scandals of the Trudeau era should have involved jail time. I mean, Trudeau broke the Criminal Code," Poilievre said.

Poilievre said Trudeau would have been charged criminally for accepting a vacation from the Aga Khan, a family friend who had dealings with the federal government, "if the RCMP had been doing its job."

The RCMP did investigate the vacation — and the SNC-Lavalin affair — and never filed any charges.

Poilievre defends recent comments about former PM Trudeau, RCMP

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Poilievre parsed those words and said he didn't say Trudeau should have been jailed.

"That's not what I said," Poilievre said when asked if he went too far in suggesting a political opponent should be locked up.

"In certain cases, I think there were scandals in the Liberal government that would be appropriately punished in that way."

Last week, when first asked about his podcast remarks, Poilievre was more definitive that Trudeau himself should have been prosecuted, citing specific sections of the Criminal Code.

"Obviously, Justin Trudeau violated section 121 of the Criminal Code when he accepted a quarter million dollar vacation from someone who had asked for him to give a $10 million government grant," Poilievre said at an event near Sudbury, Ont., while adding he is prepared to hand over "evidence of Mr. Trudeau's Criminal Code violations."

Beyond the debate over whether he said Trudeau should be jailed and if that was appropriate, the Conservative leader is also facing heat from the Opposition parties — and even some Conservative insiders — over how he described the RCMP and its leadership.

The source said Poilievre addressed his RCMP remarks right off the top of the meeting — largely relaying what party spokespeople did on his behalf earlier this week with a written statement — as part of an effort to quiet some concerns. In that statement, Poilievre said he was specifically referring to past RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki.

Radio-Canada reported earlier Wednesday that at least four Conservative MPs are questioning Poilievre's leadership, and weighing whether they can support him at the January leadership review, after he blasted the RCMP on the podcast.

None of that dissent was on public display as the caucus gathered for its usual pre-sitting meeting.

"I think that Pierre Poilievre has tremendous support from caucus, tremendous support from Canadians," Conservative MP Andrew Lawton told reporters before the caucus meeting.

He said Poilievre's comments are "like little out of context things from a podcast, it's really not the biggest priority for Canadians."

Conservative MP Greg McLean said Poilievre was on to something and the RCMP "hasn't looked at the evidence sufficiently enough."

"The RCMP needs to do their job because frankly, right now, we haven't seen the full analysis of what has happened here," McLean said, referring to Trudeau's past problems.

"I've got a lot of friends in the RCMP," he said, adding that he respects the work they do.

Conservative MPs defend Poilievre’s leadership amid RCMP comments

Conservative MP Michael Barrett said Poilievre "offered a precision that I think was very important," referring to the leader's media statement.

"My comments were directed to former RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki who has a lengthy track record of publicly documented scandals, deception and political interference to the benefit of the Liberal government. We called for her resignation. We stand by that call to this day," Poilievre said in that written statement.

Still, some high-ranking Conservatives have criticized Poilievre for suggesting a political rival should be behind bars — and for still fixating on the nearly decade-old controversies of a leader who is long gone

"That kind of rhetoric isn’t strength, it’s recklessness and it shows a leadership approach that remains rooted in grievance rather than governance," Dimitri Soudas, the director of communications for former prime minister Stephen Harper, said in a recent op-ed.

Senior reporter

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