Lawyers for Ontario Premier Doug Ford and a high provincial minister say the immunity offered to politicians from testifying would trigger “irreparable harm” to the rule of law if not upheld.
The Public Order Emergency Commission summoned Ford and then-solicitor basic Sylvia Jones final week to testify on the Emergencies Act inquiry.
Ford and Jones are looking for a keep of these summons in Federal Court till a full listening to on its underlying utility to quash the summons — which cites parliamentary privilege — is heard.
The fee is analyzing the federal authorities’s use of the Emergencies Act to finish the truck convoy protests in Ottawa and Windsor, Ont., final winter. It desires to hear from Ford and Jones over how they dealt with the occupation in downtown Ottawa and the blockade of incoming visitors from the U.S. on the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor.
In court docket paperwork, the commissioner argues Ford and Jones have overstated the privilege and that their utility must be dismissed.
Provincial lawyer Susan Keenan says parliamentary privilege is what protects the separation of court docket and the legislative department within the correct functioning of a constitutional system.
“It’s vital that the privilege be protected when it’s beneath menace,” Keenan mentioned. “If not, harm is not solely irreparable, however it’s cumulative.”
The province argues that not granting a keep would have a chilling impact on all legislative our bodies and its members throughout the nation, leaving politicians open to doable fines, contempt of court docket or imprisonment if they select not to testify in any continuing.
That could lead on to politicians turning into unable to do their job, it says.