Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is staying mum about whether he rejected former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould's 2017 recommendation for chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Sources tell The Canadian Press that Trudeau turned down Wilson-Raybould's recommendation that Glenn Joyal be elevated from chief justice of Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench to chief justice of the Supreme Court over Joyal's views on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Joyal said Monday he withdrew his candidacy due to his wife's health.

Trudeau would not answer direct questions this morning about what transpired two years ago, nor would he say whether his office was involved in the leak of what is usually a highly confidential appointments process.

Trudeau says it is the prime minister's choice of who to nominate for the Supreme Court, as well as for chief justice, and that Canadians can and should continue to have faith in their judicial system.

The House of Commons ethics committee will meet this afternoon in Ottawa to debate an opposition request to probe further into Wilson-Raybould's allegations of political interference in the criminal prosecution of Quebec engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin.