A federal court has ruled that Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister Sylvia Jones can legally ignore a summons to testify from the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC)..Justice Simon Fothergill said despite having "valuable evidence to offer," Ford and Jones "may resist the summonses by asserting parliamentary privilege and the Commission cannot take steps to enforce their attendance and compel them to give evidence.".The POEC, which runs for six weeks, is tasked with determining whether the federal government was justified in implementing the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy trucker protest..Two weeks ago, the commission issued a formal summons after Ford and Jones repeatedly ignored requests to sit down for a private interview and testify publicly in front of the inquiry. Inquiry counsel feared that if the pair didn't testify, there would be "important gaps" left in the final Emergencies Act report..Less than an hour after being summoned to testify, Ford announced he was seeking a judicial review of his summons..Cara Zwibel, director of Fundamental Freedoms for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said at the time it was "extremely disappointing" that Ford and Jones would challenge the summons. ."That Ontario's leadership is not only unwilling to assist, but actively obstructing the commission's work is an abdication of its responsibility to the people of Ontario," she said. "We have seen this government resist transparency and accountability in many contexts, but this one is a particularly shocking example.".On Monday, during a press conference on the Canadian Union of Public Employees strike, a reporter asked Ford why he didn't want to testify. Ford replied that the commission is "based on the federal government calling for the Emergencies Act."."We've had our senior Public Service go there. The deputy we've had the commissioner of the [Ontario Provincial Police] there," he said.."The OPP sent police officers there and they ended of it. And so it's the federal government, it's not the provincial government."
