Ontario opposition questions Doug Ford’s reluctance to testify at Emergencies Act inquiry

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing pushback from critics for fighting against a summons to testify in an inquiry investigating the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act amid the convoy protests in Ottawa earlier this year.

Mr. Ford and former solicitor-general Sylvia Jones were summoned on Monday to appear before the Public Order Emergency Commission after refusing multiple requests for interviews or invitations to testify voluntarily.

The commission is studying the unprecedented use of the emergency powers the federal government enacted in February in response to anti-vaccine-mandate convoy protests that blocked border crossings and caused significant disruptions in downtown Ottawa.

Ottawa-area opposition MPPs accuse Mr. Ford of shying away from appearing at the inquiry to avoid releasing more details on the province’s response. Both the NDP and Liberal parties called on Mr. Ford to testify rather than fighting it through the courts on the province’s dime.

“If I were him, I would be ashamed for not taking action for two weeks,” interim Liberal leader and Ottawa South MPP John Fraser said. “At the very least, give some explanation, somewhere, somehow for not doing what he needed to do at that critical moment.”

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, one of several groups that were calling on Mr. Ford to testify, said the province’s response is disappointing and obstructing the commission’s work.

In a letter released Monday, commission co-lead counsel Shantona Chaudhury and Jeff Leon said the summonses were possible under the government’s Inquiries Act. The lawyers said the commission believes the two politicians would have evidence “that would be relevant to the commission’s mandate.”

But shortly after the letter was released, the province said it would be taking the matter to court and challenging the commission’s decision.

Andrew Kennedy, spokesperson for Ontario Attorney-General Doug Downey, said in a statement the province will be seeking a judicial review to set aside the summonses and receive a stay, arguing the commission’s orders violate parliamentary privilege.

One legal expert said Mr. Ford and Ms. Jones are on solid ground in relying on this defence to refuse to testify.

Steven Chaplin, a professor at the University of Ottawa specializing in the law of Parliament in the Constitution, said members of a legislature do not have to answer a summons to appear in civil matters, which include the Emergencies Act inquiry.

“The rationale behind it is that the Legislative Assembly has first call on their time,” Prof. Chaplin said.

The Premier’s use of the privilege, however, means that the commission might be unable to verify, through cross-examination of Mr. Ford and Ms. Jones, some evidence supplied in documents by the Ontario government, Prof. Chaplin said.

Mr. Ford and Ms. Jones, now deputy premier and health minister, didn’t attend to take questions from opposition parties on the matter Tuesday, which marked the first day back for the Ontario Legislature after a six-week recess. Mr. Ford appeared at an event hosted by the Toronto Region Board of Trade, but media weren’t permitted.

Instead, Government House Leader Paul Calandra fielded questions from opposing parties as well as reporters, reiterating the province’s argument that the commission’s inquiry is a matter of how the police responded to the situation. Mr. Calandra added the government provided the commission with 800 documents that informed decisions, including cabinet discussions, and made two senior bureaucrats available to testify.

“This is certainly a policing matter and not a political matter. This is a federal commission, which is looking into the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act,” he said.

The province filed a notice of application for judicial review in Federal Court on Tuesday, citing parliamentary privilege to quash the summonses. The government will also make an urgent motion to the court on Nov. 1, seeking a stay of the summonses until there is a decision on the judicial review application.

During the hearings last week, the commission released paraphrased minutes of a phone call between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and departing Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson in which Mr. Trudeau accused Mr. Ford of “hiding from his responsibility … for political reasons” during the protests.

After the release of the phone call, both Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Ford said they worked well together during the protests. Asked Tuesday morning about the province’s decision to fight the summonses, Mr. Trudeau said he wouldn’t comment on the hearing process, but praised Mr. Ford and the province for helping put an end to the protests.

“Yes, there were times when our different orders of government weren’t as aligned as we would have liked to be, but it’s obvious that Premier Ford chose to stand with the people of Ottawa, the people of Ontario and the people of Canada and not with others,” Mr. Trudeau said.

With a report from Sean Fine