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Victory for Canadians as Ontario Court rules against The Liberal enemies of free speech
BY MICHAEL THOMAS
On May 13th, 2022, in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Justice John Fregeau ruled that members of Parliament and the Senate enjoy the absolute right to freedom of expression in parliamentary debate and struck down unconstitutional parts of Justin Trudeau’s federal legislation that had prevented certain members from disclosing information on national security matters.
With all the censorship of speech that has been prevalent surrounding Certificate Of Vaccination ID aka “COVID” and unnecessary lockdowns, this is more like a breath of fresh air, and sends a message that freedom of expression still has a place in Canada, and has not been “penetrated” as yet.
Before this ruling, under the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act, the members serving on an oversight committee for the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) were forbidden from disclosing secret and classified information received during committee proceedings based on concerns about national security.
After this act was passed in 2017 members who spoke out about such matters both in the house and the senate were in danger of serious repercussions. This was a deadly turnaround from what is known as parliamentary privilege.
Lakehead University Constitutional Law Professor Ryan Alford, author of the book, Seven Absolute Rights, is the man who brought the case and appeared as a self-represented party based on the public interest in his arguments. According to Alford and other legal experts, parliamentary privilege is not explicitly guaranteed under the Constitution but is implied in its preamble.
The problem in the case arrived from the fact that the oversight committee is billed as independent of the legislative branches because it reports to the Prime Minister and forms a part of the executive. Even so, this did not prevent the court from ruling in accord with Professor Alford’s position, which is that parliamentary privilege is “inherent, absolute and essential.”
As expected, the government of the day argued that freedom of speech is not an absolute right, and could be limited in certain circumstances.
However, in disagreeing with the government’s position, Justice Fegeau ruled that parliamentary privilege is “Equivalent to that of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms itself,” and that freedom of expression in the parliamentary debate is indeed “absolute,” even when it touches on “National security concerns,” according to Justice Centre lawyer, Jorge Pineda.
Pineda went on to say, “The Court, in essence, has told the government that there are absolute rights in the Constitution that cannot be infringed upon, no matter what excuse is made, even when it involves national security. This is an absolute right for elected representatives, to be able to speak freely in Parliament, without fear of punishment. This decision also reaffirms that Canadians have rights deeply entrenched in the Constitution, beyond those guaranteed by the Charter of Rights.”
This is certainly a small but important victory for justice in Canada especially in an age when elected as well as unelected people believe that they can trample on citizens’ rights and freedoms, and write everything off under the disguise of one imaginary emergency or another, or some man-made disease.
The Government of Canada has the right to appeal the decision, and from the determination, which they have shown in violating the Human and Charter of Rights in this country, it is not far-fetched that they would come up with another defence soon.
Until then, this shows us as Canadians that persistence pays off, and that it is never a bad thing, or too late to stand up against evil, because as the old folks used to say, “It gets darkest when the dawn is approaching.”
Facebook, Twitter, and all those social platforms that stand firmly behind the “gag agenda” of humanity need to share the same fate one way or the other.