Conservative MP Frank Caputo says Justice Minister David Lametti sent him an email threatening his professional reputation during question period last week.
In the email — a copy of which has been shared with CBC — Lametti appears to criticize Caputo for applauding a question about former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci.
Prior to David Johnston’s resignation as special rapporteur on foreign interference last Friday, Conservatives had been critical of the former governor general’s appointment to that role. They said Johnston couldn’t be impartial, in part because of his ties to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
Johnston said he asked Iacobucci to weigh in on whether he was in a conflict of interest and was given the all-clear. But Conservatives were quick to point out that Iacobucci had his own past ties with the foundation.
In the email, Lametti wrote that he’d “let the community know” that Caputo applauded after Conservative MP Michael Barrett appeared to question Iacobucci’s integrity during question period on Thursday.
Rising in the House on a question of privilege Monday evening, Caputo — who is a lawyer — said Lametti presumably meant the legal community.
“This is the minister of justice and attorney general and he is telling a non-governmental MP that he will take action to diminish another member’s reputation,” Caputo said in the House.
“A lawyer’s reputation is really everything. An attack on my integrity impedes me as a parliamentarian, as a future practicing lawyer and as a non-practicing lawyer at this time.”
In a media statement, Lametti said he was talking about the the Italian-Canadian community in the email, not the legal community.
“In the midst of celebrations across the country for the beginning of Italian Heritage Month, I was disappointed to see the Conservatives questioning the sterling reputation of former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci — a trailblazer of our Italian-Canadian community and a giant of the legal profession,” Lametti’s statement said.
“The Italian-Canadian community deserves to know where Mr. Caputo stands.”
Caputo said that Barrett didn’t question Iacobucci’s integrity but only pointed out that he had a past affiliation with the Trudeau Foundation.
“I have always respected justice Iacobucci,” Caputo said.
Iacobucci was nominated to serve on Canada’s top court by former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was established in 2001 to honour the former prime minister, who died in 2000. The foundation describes itself as an independent and nonpartisan charity that helps fund and promote academic and public interest research.
Iacobucci is listed as a past mentor to one of the foundation’s scholars.
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