Doug Ford Oversteps Privilege In Trying To Avoid Testifying In Emergency Law Probe Commissioner Says

The Public Order Emergency Committee summoned Ford and then-solicitor general Sylvia Jones last week to testify at the inquiry, which is looking into the federal government’s use of the Emergency Act to end the so-called Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa and Windsor, Ont. last winter. Lawyers for Ford and Jones filed a judicial review petition in Federal Court last week seeking to quash the subpoena, citing parliamentary privilege — legal immunity that prevents a politician from testifying while the legislature is in session and for 40 days before and post. The commissioner, Justice Paul Rouleau, a Court of Appeal judge, is now seeking to have Ford and Jones’ application dismissed. “Applicants overstate the extent of the privilege at issue,” the commissioner said in court documents. “There is no general privilege to refuse to testify; it is only a temporary privilege.” The Federal Court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday in Ottawa. In a judicial review application filed in court last week, lawyers for Ford and Jones argued the subpoena breached their parliamentary privilege in an attempt to compel the pair to testify. Lawyers said “irreparable harm would be caused” if the two were forced to testify, which the commissioner disagreed with. “Second, being required to testify before a board of inquiry does not constitute irreparable harm,” the commissioner wrote. The commissioner said it had “never been demonstrated” that parliamentary privilege could be used in an investigation and that he was “legally entitled” to Ford and Jones’ evidence as part of his parliamentary mandate. An Ottawa police officer stands near a line of protest vehicles in the city center and signs in a photo taken last February. (Jean-Francois Benoit/CBC) “Under the circumstances of this case, it is apparent that applicants seek to use a principle of uncertain application to the commissioner’s subpoenas to delay their filing until the commission’s mandate expires,” Rouleau wrote. The commission will hear input at the public inquiry until November 25 and must report back with recommendations by February 20, 2023. The committee wants Ford and Jones, who last week revealed he had COVID-19, to testify on Nov. 10. Court documents show the committee’s lawyers have been negotiating with lawyers for Ford and Jones, who is now the health secretary, for weeks. By mid-September, attorneys said it would be important to interview Ford, especially given what he had disclosed so far. He had found through interviews that the province had refused to meet with Ottawa’s mayor and the federal government in an effort to figure out how to end the convoy’s weeks-long occupation of the nation’s capital. He wants to know why Ford and Jones didn’t attend multiple meetings with other levels of government about the situation. Multiple witnesses have described Ford and Jones’ “participation or lack thereof in the events leading up to the emergency declaration” and he wants to question them about it, the commissioner said in court documents. All the way up to the start of the investigation, lawyers for the province refused the commission’s repeated attempts to interview Ford. On Oct. 11, two days before the investigation began, lawyers for the commission informed Ontario lawyers that they wanted Ford and Jones to testify, court documents show. Six days later, the committee again said the pair should testify, but were warned by lawyers for Ford and Jones that the subpoena would not be effective, “as parliamentary privilege applies”. Ontario Premier Doug Ford looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau answers a question earlier this month in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) On the same day, Ford told reporters that he had not been asked to testify at the inquiry. Then came the call last Monday, which sparked an uproar at Queen’s Park with opposition members demanding he testify. The prime minister skipped question period on the first day the legislature resumed sitting last Tuesday, with a top minister saying Ford was too busy to appear. Ford answered a question the next day and repeatedly said the investigation was a federal, not a provincial, matter. He also said repeatedly that the occupation in Ottawa by the so-called Freedom Forum and the nearly week-long blockade of the well-traveled international bridge in Windsor was a matter of policing, not politics. He pointed out that the province has provided two top bureaucrats to answer questions during the inquiry, provided 800 pages of cabinet documents to the commission and top Ontario Provincial Police officers have testified.

title: “Doug Ford Oversteps Privilege In Trying To Avoid Testifying In Emergency Law Probe Commissioner Says " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-15” author: “Daniel Dominguez”

The Public Order Emergency Committee summoned Ford and then-solicitor general Sylvia Jones last week to testify at the inquiry, which is looking into the federal government’s use of the Emergency Act to end the so-called Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa and Windsor, Ont. last winter. Lawyers for Ford and Jones filed a judicial review petition in Federal Court last week seeking to quash the subpoena, citing parliamentary privilege — legal immunity that prevents a politician from testifying while the legislature is in session and for 40 days before and post. The commissioner, Justice Paul Rouleau, a Court of Appeal judge, is now seeking to have Ford and Jones’ application dismissed. “Applicants overstate the extent of the privilege at issue,” the commissioner said in court documents. “There is no general privilege to refuse to testify; it is only a temporary privilege.” The Federal Court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday in Ottawa. In a judicial review application filed in court last week, lawyers for Ford and Jones argued the subpoena breached their parliamentary privilege in an attempt to compel the pair to testify. Lawyers said “irreparable harm would be caused” if the two were forced to testify, which the commissioner disagreed with. “Second, being required to testify before a board of inquiry does not constitute irreparable harm,” the commissioner wrote. The commissioner said it had “never been demonstrated” that parliamentary privilege could be used in an investigation and that he was “legally entitled” to Ford and Jones’ evidence as part of his parliamentary mandate. An Ottawa police officer stands near a line of protest vehicles in the city center and signs in a photo taken last February. (Jean-Francois Benoit/CBC) “Under the circumstances of this case, it is apparent that applicants seek to use a principle of uncertain application to the commissioner’s subpoenas to delay their filing until the commission’s mandate expires,” Rouleau wrote. The commission will hear input at the public inquiry until November 25 and must report back with recommendations by February 20, 2023. The committee wants Ford and Jones, who last week revealed he had COVID-19, to testify on Nov. 10. Court documents show the committee’s lawyers have been negotiating with lawyers for Ford and Jones, who is now the health secretary, for weeks. By mid-September, attorneys said it would be important to interview Ford, especially given what he had disclosed so far. He had found through interviews that the province had refused to meet with Ottawa’s mayor and the federal government in an effort to figure out how to end the convoy’s weeks-long occupation of the nation’s capital. He wants to know why Ford and Jones didn’t attend multiple meetings with other levels of government about the situation. Multiple witnesses have described Ford and Jones’ “participation or lack thereof in the events leading up to the emergency declaration” and he wants to question them about it, the commissioner said in court documents. All the way up to the start of the investigation, lawyers for the province refused the commission’s repeated attempts to interview Ford. On Oct. 11, two days before the investigation began, lawyers for the commission informed Ontario lawyers that they wanted Ford and Jones to testify, court documents show. Six days later, the committee again said the pair should testify, but were warned by lawyers for Ford and Jones that the subpoena would not be effective, “as parliamentary privilege applies”. Ontario Premier Doug Ford looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau answers a question earlier this month in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) On the same day, Ford told reporters that he had not been asked to testify at the inquiry. Then came the call last Monday, which sparked an uproar at Queen’s Park with opposition members demanding he testify. The prime minister skipped question period on the first day the legislature resumed sitting last Tuesday, with a top minister saying Ford was too busy to appear. Ford answered a question the next day and repeatedly said the investigation was a federal, not a provincial, matter. He also said repeatedly that the occupation in Ottawa by the so-called Freedom Forum and the nearly week-long blockade of the well-traveled international bridge in Windsor was a matter of policing, not politics. He pointed out that the province has provided two top bureaucrats to answer questions during the inquiry, provided 800 pages of cabinet documents to the commission and top Ontario Provincial Police officers have testified.