Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones didn’t have to hide behind parliamentary privilege. Instead, the Premier used this principle as a legal loophole to protect himself
There is no real substantive reason why the Premier of Ontario can’t testify before the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act, but, as a Federal Court judge has ruled, he has a “lawful excuse.”
Justice Simon Fothergill’s ruling made clear that Mr. Ford won in court because parliamentary privilege protects MPPs from having to testify before courts and inquiries – whether or not testifying would actually impede the work of the Premier, or the legislature. If you’re keeping score, you might notice that Mr. Ford has made a habit of invoking big constitutionally recognized mechanisms to deal with political challenges. He pre-emptively invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights in back-to-work legislation for support workers in Ontario schools. He backtracked on that Monday. Just because you can invoke big principles to further small politics, it doesn’t mean you should.
One of the commission’s unasked questions, cited in the judge’s rulings, was why the Premier supported the federal Emergencies Act orders: “Was he not satisfied that Ontario could resolve the situation in Windsor and Ottawa using provincial powers alone? Why?”
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