(Toronto) Doug Ford did not appear for question period at the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, when we learned the day before that he is contesting a subpoena to appear before the Commission on the state of emergency in Ottawa .
Posted at 2:50 p.m.
A spokesperson announced Monday that the government will seek judicial review to quash subpoenas issued to Premier Ford and Sylvia Jones, who served as solicitor general last winter.
Government House Leader Paul Calandra said Tuesday that the premier was too busy to show up for Question Period in the Legislative Assembly – the first since the House resumed after a six-week hiatus. After question period, Mr. Calandra said the Prime Minister was to make a public announcement and address on Tuesday.
Mme Jones, who is now health minister, was also not present for question period on Tuesday.
Mr. Ford and Mme Jones were officially summoned by the State of Emergency Commission on Monday. The public inquiry is looking into the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act three weeks after the “freedom convoy” protests began in downtown Ottawa. Another demonstration also blocked free border movement in Windsor, still in Ontario.
Mr. Calandra reiterated to reporters, and to MPs during Question Period, that for the Ontario government, the commission’s investigation was a police matter, not a political one.
“This is a federal investigation into the federal government’s use of the Emergency Act,” he said, adding that two senior provincial officials will testify at the commission. The Ontario government also provided hundreds of pages of documents to the inquiry.
Last week, Mr Ford told reporters that he had not been asked to appear, but commission prosecutors argued that the Prime Minister and Mrme Jones had refused repeated requests to appear voluntarily.
Joel Harden, NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre, an area hard hit by protests last winter, said the prime minister must testify. “I don’t accept that the prime minister says: ‘It’s not my problem’”, he argued.
“It’s your problem, you’re the premier of the province. We don’t want these kind of convoy movements anymore in any of our cities in Canada […] Running and hiding and not facing the music is not appropriate. »
The Ontario government argues that the subpoena “is inconsistent with the parliamentary privilege of Members of Parliament”.
But according to Green Party leader Mike Schreiner, Premier Ford should follow the example of federal politicians who waive parliamentary privilege to testify before the commission.
“I believe the Premier has an obligation to the people of Ontario to show leadership, to be clear and honest about the decisions made by his government,” said Schreiner. And the last time I checked, Ottawa and Windsor are both located in Ontario. »