A court challenge of a summons calling Ontario Doug Ford and Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones to testify at the Emergencies Act tribunal will be heard by a federal judge on Nov. 1, his office confirms.
The legal documents, which claim the “summons are inconsistent with the members’ parliamentary privilege,” were filed earlier this week.
In their application, the government argues the summons was issued “without jurisdiction, pursuant to an error of law, and must be quashed.”
The argument surrounding parliamentary privilege prevents members from the Ontario Legislative Assembly from being compelled to testify in a proceeding while the Legislature is in session.
Ford and Jones have, for the most part, dodged questions about why they are refusing to voluntarily testify at the commission. The government has said they have sent hundreds of pages of cabinet documents to be reviewed and that deputy ministers have been made available as witnesses.
“From day one…for Ontario this was a policing matter, not a political matter,” Ford said on Wednesday in Question Period. “This is a federal inquiry into the federal government’s decision to use the federal Emergencies Act.”
The decision not to testify contradicts Ford’s pledge in the summer in which he said he would participate in the inquiry if asked.
“If they call me I will participate,” he said on June 30.
The court challenge has led to multiple heated discussions in the Legislature, with opposition parties accusing Ford and Jones of being “cowardly” and “running and hiding.”
On Thursday, Ford was forced to withdraw a comment accusing an Ottawa MPP of “hiding in his basement” and being part of the “most politically corrupt government” in provincial history after he was questioned about the court challenge for a third day in a row.
A professor at the University of Ottawa previously told CTV News Toronto the government’s claim of parliamentary privilege is “likely to be upheld by the court."
Ford and Jones have been called to testify on Nov. 10. Some of the questions the commission hopes to ask include what the premier’s intentions were in respect to solving the occupation and blockade and why he declined to participate in two of three tripartite meetings with other levels of government.
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