Poilievre Says RCMP Remarks Were Aimed at Former Commissioner

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2025. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his allegations of political interference by the RCMP during former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s terms in office were aimed at the former commissioner of the federal service, not the entire police force.

Poilievre’s spokesperson issued a written statement to the media on Oct. 20, in which the Tory leader said he stands “shoulder to shoulder with the brave men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve.”

“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,” the statement said. “We called for her resignation. We stand by that call to this day.”

The statement comes after calls from the Liberals this week for Poilievre to apologize for comments he made during an Oct. 3 interview with the YouTube channel Northern Perspective during which he accused the RCMP of protecting Trudeau from facing criminal charges.

Poilievre was asked by the host about how he, as prime minister, would deal with one of his team members being involved in a scandal similar to those that cropped up during Trudeau’s tenure.

Poilievre said many of the scandals of the Trudeau-era should have involved jail time, adding that the former prime minister “probably” violated the Criminal Code during the 2018 SNC-Lavalin affair.

Controversy arose following the 2019 resignation of former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, who alleged that Trudeau attempted to coerce her into preventing the criminal prosecution of the engineering firm, which faced corruption and fraud allegations in 2015 concerning its business operations in Libya. Wilson-Raybould testified before the House of Commons justice committee that she faced sustained political pressure from Trudeau and senior staff to intervene in a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to offer SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement.

Such actions “would normally have led to criminal charges, but of course the RCMP covered it all up,” Poilievre said, adding that the RCMP leadership has been “despicable when it comes to enforcing laws against the Liberal government.”

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.

Trudeau and his family took an all-expenses-paid vacation at the private Caribbean island owned by the Aga Khan, whose foundation was receiving funding from Ottawa. The federal ethics commissioner later determined Trudeau had breached the Conflict of Interest Act by accepting the vacation.

Poilievre faced calls in the House of Commons on Oct. 20 to issue an apology for his remarks about the RCMP. Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon challenged him on two occasions during question period to apologize “to the people of this chamber and this House” for accusing the RCMP of covering up for Trudeau.

“Last week, the leader of the Opposition put into question the independence of our judiciary, the independence of our prosecutors, of the police—in fact, the very police that put their lives on the line to protect him,” MacKinnon said.

Poilievre responded by saying the Liberals were “trying to distract from their rising cost of living by talking about their corruption.”

Response to Comments

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also called on Poilievre to retract his comments and apologize.

May said the investigation by then-ethics watchdog Mary Dawson concluded that Trudeau had breached federal regulations in the Aga Khan case, but the Green Party leader said that did not constitute a violation of the Criminal Code.

A 2017 report from Dawson said Trudeau’s vacation broke four conflict of interest laws, including those that prohibits a minister or any member of their family from accepting gifts or “advantages” that could reasonably be seen as influencing government decisions. Dawson also concluded that Trudeau broke the ethics code when he travelled on the Aga Khan’s private helicopter.

The RCMP said at the time that it couldn’t pursue a criminal investigation in the Aga Khan vacation case due to a lack of clarity in federal regulations governing gift acceptance.

The federal police force also looked into laying charges in relation to the SNC-Lavalin case. Then-Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion determined in 2019 the prime minister and his office violated the rules by attempting to “undermine” the decision of the director of public prosecutions as well as the attorney general in an effort to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal trial.

In a statement following the release of Dion’s report, the RCMP said it was “examining this matter carefully,” but charges never materialized. Advocacy group Democracy Watch said at the time the Mounties’ review of the case was hindered by a lack of access to confidential cabinet materials.

The perceived lack of action by the RCMP may be what prompted Poilievre’s podcast comments, but current RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme told reporters on Oct. 16 that it was “clear” there was no government interference in the Mounties’ investigations. He also disagreed with Poilievre saying the Trudeau-era scandals should have led to criminal charges and that the RCMP leadership had been lax.

“I don’t take any orders from any political individual,” he said.

“And as far as his comment, with regards to senior management, I would invite Mr. Poilievre to meet with us and to meet with the people who run this great organization, 32,000 strong,” he added.

Duheme was not at the helm of the RCMP at the time of either case. He stepped into his current role following the retirement of then-commissioner Brenda Lucki in March of 2023.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.