Michael Wernick retires as Clerk of the Privy Council

The country's top bureaucrat, Michael Wernick, is leaving his job, telling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an open letter that recent events show him there is no path for a "relationship of mutual trust" with the opposition parties.

Wernick has been clerk of the Privy Council since 2016, shortly after the Liberals assumed office.  But he has come under fire in the past few weeks after being accused by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould of being among a number of officials, including Trudeau and his senior staff, who pressured her to head off criminal charges for SNC-Lavalin.

Guest: Mercedes Stephenson

Ottawa Bureau Chief for Global News and Host of The West Block

The country's top bureaucrat, Michael Wernick, is leaving his job, telling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an open letter that recent events show him there is no path for a "relationship of mutual trust" with the opposition parties.

Wernick has been clerk of the Privy Council since 2016, shortly after the Liberals assumed office.  But he has come under fire in the past few weeks after being accused by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould of being among a number of officials, including Trudeau and his senior staff, who pressured her to head off criminal charges for SNC-Lavalin.

Guest: Mercedes Stephenson

Ottawa Bureau Chief for Global News and Host of The West Block