O'Toole says Trudeau needs to fire top aide to prove his innocence in military sexual assault scandal

Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole released a statement on Tuesday, calling on Trudeau to fire Chief of Staff Katie Telford to prove he really did not know that sexual misconduct allegations against General Vance were sexual in nature.

Last week, the prime minister insisted that he did not know the nature of the allegations, and that Telford had been a key member of his staff that has made his government more feminist.

Defence committee meetings have since been cancelled. No reason was given by Liberal Defence committee chair for its cancelation.

"After shutting down committee with a filibuster last Friday to avoid a motion calling Katie Telford to Defence Committee, the Trudeau Liberals' outright cancelled yesterday's meeting.

"But, this should come as no surprise," O'Toole writes. "After months of orchestrating a cover-up to hide the truth from Canadians, Justin Trudeau is desperate to keep his scandal-plagued government from falling apart.

"If the Prime Minister is telling the truth and he wants Canadians to believe that he had no knowledge of the evidence of sexual misconduct against General Vance, he will fire Katie Telford."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has also called for accountability, saying that the blame lies on the prime minister more than on Telford.