Opportunistic ex-Liberal MP Leona Alleslev desscribed PM Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan ‘were truly awesome,’ Alleslev wrote in a July email.
OTTAWA – Opportunistic ex-Liberal MP Leona Alleslev heaped public and private praise on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his senior ministers in the weeks before she started a secret process to defect to the opposition Conservatives, according to an email and an audio recording obtained by CBC News.
On July 11 — when Alleslev was part of the Canadian delegation at the NATO summit in Brussels — the MP for Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill sent a emotional email to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.
“Want to tell you that the hug and kiss you gave me on the way out was just truly the best — you made me cry!” Alleslev wrote.
“You and the PM and Harj (Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan) were truly awesome today. This is not only who we are as Canadians – but also who we are as global citizens – and that was on full display today.”
She ended the note by thanking Freeland for “everything you do!”
Alleslev delivered a similar message just nine days later on July 20, when Trudeau headlined a fundraiser in her riding and the then-Liberal MP made a statement.
“The greatest thing about being a member of Parliament in this prime minister’s government is that we are each and every one of us valued for the contribution that we bring to the team,” Alleslev said, according to a recording of her remarks.
Just weeks later, in early August, Alleslev was sitting down with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer at a Pearson airport hotel outside Toronto, discussing the terms of her defection from the Liberals.
Alleslev — who cited what she called Trudeau’s failures on foreign policy and defence as her motivation for crossing the floor — also praised the prime minister’s performance at the NATO summit, reported CBC News.
