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Lawyers for Ontario Premier Doug Ford to appear in to court today to fight summons

Nov 1, 2022 | 2:03 AM

OTTAWA — Lawyers for Ontario Premier Doug Ford and a top provincial minister are set to argue in court today in an effort to get the pair out of testifying at the federal Emergencies Act inquiry.

The Public Order Emergency Commission summoned Ford and then-solicitor general Sylvia Jones last week to testify at the inquiry.

Ford and Jones have applied to the Federal Court for a judicial review, arguing the summons should be quashed because they cannot testify due to parliamentary privilege, which provides immunity to sitting politicians.

The commissioner says Ford and Jones have overstated the privilege and that their application should be dismissed.

The commission is examining the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act to end the so-called Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa and Windsor, Ont., last winter.

The commission wants to hear from Ford and Jones over how it handled the occupation in downtown Ottawa and the blockade of incoming traffic from the U.S. at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

The Canadian Press