Canadian rights groups challenging prorogation

Two Canadian rights groups, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and Democracy Watch, are backing court challenges to the Trudeau government's eleven-week prorogation of Parliament. 

Canadians challenge Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue Parliament: “no reasonable justification” | Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (news release):

January 7, 2025 - "The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is providing lawyers on an urgent basis to two Canadians, David MacKinnon and Aris Lavranos, seeking a Federal Court declaration that Prime Minister Trudeau’s recent prorogation of Parliament is unreasonable and must be set aside. When Parliament is prorogued, the parliamentary session is terminated, and all parliamentary activity, including work on bills and in committees, immediately stops.

"Among its many grounds arguing that Trudeau’s decision to advise the Governor General to exercise her prerogative power to prorogue Parliament to March 24, 2025, this application argues that the decision to prorogue Parliament was 'incorrect, unreasonable or both' [and] that the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue 'was not made in furtherance of Parliamentary business or the business of government, but in service of the interests of the LPC [Liberal Party of Canada].'

"At his news conference ... on January 6, 2025, the Prime Minister’s stated justification for the prorogation was (1) to 'reset' Parliament and (2) to permit the Liberal Party of Canada time to select a new party leader. No explanation was provided as to why Parliament could not recess instead. No explanation was provided as to why Members of Parliaments could not immediately exercise their right to vote on a motion of non-confidence in the government. A majority of MPs have now repeatedly promised to do just that, which would trigger an election and provide the needed 'reset' in a democratic and legitimate way.

"No explanation was provided as to why a prorogation of almost three months is needed. No explanation was provided as to why the Liberal Party of Canada ought to be entitled to such a lengthy prorogation simply so it can hold an internal leadership race.

"This Federal Court application includes language taken from a decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which ruled in 2019 that then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson had prorogued Parliament unlawfully, as a means of avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny over the government’s 'Brexit' negotiations concerning the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

"The application contends, among other things, that 'in all of the circumstances surrounding it, the [prorogation] has the effect of frustrating or preventing, without reasonable justification, the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions as a legislature and as the body responsible for the supervision of the executive, particularly insofar as it relates to Parliament’s ability to deal quickly and decisively with especially pressing issues, such as the situation caused by President-Elect Trump’s stated intention to impose a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Canada.'"
Read more: https://www.jccf.ca/canadians-challenge-prime-ministers-decision-to-prorogue-parliament-no-reasonable-justification/

Democracy Watch litigates against Trudeau government prorogation | Western Standard | Lee Harding:

January 8, 2025 - "Democracy Watch will pursue a court challenge of the request by Prime Minister Trudeau that the Governor General prorogue Parliament. Trudeau announced the prorogation at a press conference the morning of January 6, shortly after Democracy Watch announced it would oppose in court any prorogation if it met certain criteria. On Wednesday morning, Democracy Watch said it would follow through on its court threat, having decided this prorogation is clearly in the Liberal Party’s self-interest, and is happening at a time when the opposition parties are clearly intending to vote non-confidence in the government. 

"Democracy Watch’s legal arguments will be based on rulings in its past court cases challenging snap election calls, and the UK Supreme Court’s unanimous 2019 ruling that it was illegal for then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson to prorogue Parliament for no justifiable reason when a majority of MPs wanted Parliament to stay open and operating.

“'While a non-confidence motion was not being debated when the prorogation was requested, and while it is fair to allow a political party to change leaders before an election occurs, the Prime Minister dictating that Parliament must shut down for almost three months to avoid a non-confidence vote in his government that would trigger an election, without consulting any opposition leaders or even Liberal MPs, is fundamentally undemocratic and unjustifiable,' said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. 'The Prime Minister had other options and, from all evidence, could have reached an agreement some time ago with one or more opposition parties to have the Liberals hold a party leadership contest while Parliament continued operating,' Conacher insisted."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/democracy-watch-litigates-against-trudeau-government-prorogation/60987

Trudeau to resign in future - now what?

Justin Trudeau's announcement that he has prorogued Parliament and will resign following a Liberal leadership campaign means that Canada will have a dysfunctional federal government for at least half a year, just in time for the incoming Trump presidency. 

Trudeau says he's not the right choice to lead party in next election, promises to resign as PM | CBC News | Catharine Tunney:

January 6, 2025 - "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he plans to step down once the Liberal Party has chosen a successor, bringing his time leading the country to a tumultuous end. Trudeau, who became Liberal leader in 2013 and prime minister in the fall of 2015, announced his long-awaited decision outside his official residence, Rideau Cottage, on Monday morning following weeks of speculation and weakened support from his caucus.... Trudeau also announced that he met with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on Monday morning and that she has agreed to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament until March 24."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-news-conference-1.7423680

Justin Trudeau's resignation as prime minister | CityNews | January 6, 2024:

Vain. Vile. Vacuous. Trudeau was too cowardly to face the music | Western Standard | Derek Fildebrandt:

January 6, 2025 - "Justin Trudeau took the coward's way out today, denying Canadians the opportunity to cast direct judgment on his leadership at the ballot box.... Trudeau II has been a zombie prime minister for well more than a year now, and it has been glaringly obvious to all but himself and the most delusional of TruAnons. The pressure was overwhelming, but it was allowed to take this long — leaving Canada dangerously exposed at a moment of national crisis — because the even more cowardly Liberal caucus refused to do the obvious thing and remove him.... 

"[T]hey ran out of time last year to replace their leader in a way that would have allowed for an orderly transference of power and kept even a glimmer of hope for hanging onto government. They waited until now — until Canada faces an existential economic threat from Trump tariffs, until Liberal corruption coverups have completely paralyzed Parliament, and until Liberal polling sinks to apocalyptic depths — to finally do what the entire country knows needed to happen a long time ago. The Liberals have failed to win the most votes in two straight elections under Trudeau and since Pierre Poilievre became Conservative leader, have seen their already low poll numbers collapse into lows never before seen by that party.... 

"Canadians have wanted and needed an election for well over a year, but NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has cynically propped this government up the entire time. He has promised to vote non-confidence in Trudeau eventually, but only after his gold-plated pension vests at the end of February. Trudeau did Singh a solid favour in his resignation speech by proroguing (suspending) Parliament until March 24, sparing the beleaguered NDP leader from the humiliation of continuing to vote confidence in the Liberals until that magic pension date is reached....

"If Trudeau had any sense of putting the country first, he would have called an election today so that Canada had a functioning, democratically legitimate government that could negotiate with Trump when he was sworn in as president on January 20. Instead, the Liberals will spend the coming months on an internal leadership race to select their very own Kim Campbell....

"But wait, there's more. The federal government will run out of money when the fiscal year ends on March 31, and so the new Liberal prime minister will have to pass a speech from the throne and a budget in those seven days, both of which are confidence votes, and for all intents and purposes, impossible....  So, after the Liberals spend months selecting and transitioning to a new leader, Canada will likely spend five weeks in an election. That takes us to May 5th. The transition from prime minister Chrystia Freeland or Mark Carney to Pierre Poilievre will likely take another two weeks before they are even sworn in, taking us to late May.

"This means that Canada will have no functioning federal government for the next half a year, while Donald Trump throws over the table of our economic and political relationship. In the moment of Canada's deep economic peril, the Liberals will play games to extend their grip on power for just a few more months, all with the collusion of Jagmeet Singh for his pension. 

"Canada is governed by a class of deeply vain, vile and vacuous fools. Their corruption and willingness to put their own interest before the country's knows no limit. They have betrayed their country for 30 pieces of silver. When judgement comes, none of them should be left."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/canadian/fildebrandt-vain-vile-vacuous-trudeau-was-too-cowardly-to-face-the-music/60911

Corruption scandal paralyzes Parliament

"Green slush fund" corruption scandal paralyzes Canada's Parliament.

Government business on pause as Conservatives demand documents on defunct green tech foundation | CBC News | Laura Osman & Alessia Passafiume, Canadian Press:

October 3, 2024 - "The government has been unable to put any of its own business before the House of Commons for a full week, and the Conservatives on Thursday said that's the result of Liberal 'corruption.' Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said the governing party would rather see the House bogged down in debate than produce documents related to misspent government dollars in a program his party has dubbed the 'green slush fund.'

"House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled last Thursday that the government 'clearly did not fully comply' with an order from the House to provide documents related to a now-defunct foundation responsible for doling out hundreds of millions of federal dollars for green technology projects. The House has been seized with a debate on the issue ever since and Scheer said it will stay that way until the government agrees to hand over the documents to police....

"The RCMP told MPs this summer they likely would not be able to use the documents as part of an investigation, but Scheer said they should have access to all the information before they decide. The Liberals claimed that ordering the production of documents to be handed over to the RCMP blurs the lines between Parliament and the judiciary, and blame Conservatives for the dysfunction in the House.

"Liberal House leader Karina Gould called the request for the documents an abuse of Parliament's power that tramples on the Charter rights of Canadians. 'Let's be very clear ...' Gould said Thursday. 'Conservative members of Parliament are here for their own political, personal objectives and they don't care what they do to Canadians in the meantime, and that is something that should be extremely alarming to all of us'....

"A similar dispute over government documents played out when the Conservatives were on the governing side of the aisle during a minority government dispute more than a decade ago. In 2009, the House ordered the government to disclose unredacted documents related to Canada's role in the torture of Afghan detainees. A few weeks after opposition parties passed a motion demanding the documents be produced, then-prime minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament for several months, preventing the House committee from pursuing the issue.

"In this case, the Liberal government abolished Sustainable Development Technology Canada after the auditor general released a scathing report about the organization's management last spring.Of the projects she looked at, one in every six that received funding were ineligible. The auditor's report also found 90 cases where conflict-of-interest polices were violated. A month later, the ethics commissioner concluded that the former chair of the foundation failed to recuse herself from decisions that benefited organizations to which she had ties."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/house-documents-green-poject-funds-1.7341785

Government business on pause as Conservatives push for ‘green slush fund’ docs | Power Panel CBC News | October 4, 2024:

Last week was wacko in Canada's Parliament

The Trudeau Liberals’ circus act is burying serious issues | Niagara Independent | Chris George:

May 3, 2024 - "Exchanges in Parliament’s main theatre, the House of Commons, devolved this week into a mayhem more suited for under a circus big top. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre engaged in a disrespectful partisan slugfest and the degradation was furthered by the clownish stumbling of the Speaker of the House. The Trudeau-Poilievre non sequitur argument and the ensuing sideshows throughout this week sadly reflect the deteriorated state of Canada’s democratic institution and its elected representatives....

"The climax of this tragi-comedy was during a heated exchange in Tuesday’s Question Period, when Speaker Greg Fergus expelled Poilievre for unparliamentary language. Most of the Tory caucus followed their leader out of the House.... Poilievre had asked Trudeau to explain why the federal government had yet to act on a B.C. government’s 'urgent' request to end the federal-provincial pilot program relating to hard drugs decriminalization. In response to this serious issue, Trudeau launched into a series of insults. He excitedly accused Poilievre of 'shameful, spineless leadership' and suggested he was sympathetic to white nationalist groups. (Over the weekend Trudeau had been making great noise in CBC News interviews and in Liberal fundraising appeals about Poilievre courting members of a group from Diagolon – an internet meme country). There was no attempt to address the issue raised by Poilievre....

"The Conservative leader countered the insults by rephrasing his lead question and calling Trudeau a 'wacko.. and the Liberals’ hard drugs policy 'wacko.' Fergus asked Poilievre to withdraw his adjective. Poilievre replaced 'wacko' with the word 'radical.' Fergus rejected this adjective and asked Poilievre to withdraw it. Poilievre replied with the word 'extremist.' Fergus rejected this and it was then that he directed Poilievre to leave the House of Commons. So, ended the centre ring circus act, with Trudeau smiling like a Cheshire Cat and Liberal MPs braying across the floor of the Commons. 

"On Wednesday, Fergus rejected formal calls from both the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois to resign due to his bias[ed], partisan actions. Bloc House leader Alain Therrien commented: 'Mr. Fergus has had difficulty maintaining peace in Parliament for a long time. We think the Speaker should leave. The recent events confirm that position.' Conservative MP Michael Cooper was more pointed in saying: 'He should resign, he’s a disgrace'.... The Liberals took to the airwaves and social media Tuesday and Wednesday to denounce Conservatives as 'conspiracy theorists' unfit to lead given their support for the people of Diagolon. In their excitement over Diagolon, there was also lip service paid in support of the beleaguered Speaker.  

"What was lost in this nonsensical episode was a reply to British Columbians about the nightmares they are currently coping with in their streets, playgrounds, and hospitals. In fact, while the Diagolon-wacko standoff has been unfolding, the Trudeau government and much of the legacy media have allowed many serious national issues to go unreported. Trudeau, his ministers, and their sponsored legacy media have been too preoccupied with Diagolon and slurring the Conservatives....   

"There are many concerns upstaged by Ottawa’s clown show. Consider these issues that demand answers if we were not all so entranced by Diagolon and whether Fergus will do the honourable thing and resign. Here: ArriveCan scandal, McKinsey sole-sourced contracts, details of the capital gains tax changes, Winnipeg lab security breaches, findings that suggest the Liberals knew and attempted to conceal facts about China’s influence in elections, and the escalation of the anti-Israel, pro-Humas demonstrations tolerated by the government and police on Canadian campuses, on city streets, and, most reprehensible, in known Jewish neighbourhoods. 

"And the dread and anguish of British Columbians deserves answers from this government. Last week B.C. Premier David Eby asked the federal government to halt the hard drugs pilot program that is currently in year one of three. It was expressed as an 'urgent' request to alleviate what has become an intolerable situation in B.C. communities – where drugged-up people lay incapacitated in streets, shoot up in kids’ playgrounds and school yards, and cause fear in hospital corridors. It is a crisis that is killing an average of seven people a day. 

"Trudeau continues to defend and promote the Liberal policy that has decriminalized possession of small amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, among other street drugs. Ya’ara Saks, the federal Addictions Minister is also avoiding the facts.... Why is there not a serious debate in Canada’s parliament about seven British Columbians dying daily as a result of drugs? How do Canadians get a response to this serious issue and the many others when they all seem to get lost in the hurley burley under the big top?" 

Read more: https://niagaraindependent.ca/the-trudeau-liberals-circus-act-is-burying-serious-issues/

Trudeau Still Attacks Diagolon | Beautiful Canada | May 2, 2024:

Justin Trudeau finds an actual Nazi

After years of portraying Canadians who disagree with him – from the Freedom Convoy to parents protesting gender education to the opposition Conservatives – as Nazis, Justin Trudeau encounters the real deal.

Embarrassing Fallout of Mistakenly Honouring a Nazi a Richly Deserved Moment of Karma for Feds | Epoch Times | Peter Menzies: 

September 22, 2023 - "As the sun set Sept. 24 for the beginning of Yom Kippur, politicians were scrambling to atone in the wake of the news that an honoured guest given a standing ovation in Parliament was a little bit more contentious than your average Ukrainian freedom fighter.

"Yaroslav Hunka, 98-years-old, was introduced Sept. 22 as part of the pageantry surrounding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament. 'We have here in the Chamber today, a Ukrainian Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at the age of 98. His name is Yaroslav Hunka,' Speaker of the House Anthony Rota said....  'He is a Ukrainian hero, Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.'

"All good, right? Until it turned out that Hunka’s First Ukrainian Division had been strategically rebranded in the last days of the Second World War in an effort to disguise its original title, the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. Connected to crimes against humanity during the Holocaust, this was a Nazi military unit ultimately under the command of Adolph Hitler.

"The first politician to speak out in protest was Conservative MP and Co-Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, a Jew, and the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. And then others lowered the boom. The Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre swiftly denounced 'Parliament’s recognition of a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others,' and demanded an apology 'to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation.' By day’s end, Rota’s office had issued a full apology for the latest, enormous domestic and international embarrassment to be suffered by Trudeau and his increasingly troubled government....

"No doubt the engagement with Hunka was a mistake. Given that Francois-Phillipe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, recently X-posted that Canada and Japan have 'always' been allies, it’s clear there are many in Ottawa with little, if any, knowledge of even recent history. But this was also a richly deserved moment of karma for a government that has been far too swift to accuse others of sidling up to Nazis.

"It was only February 2022, after all, when Trudeau stood in the House of Commons and, in response to a question from Lantsman regarding what many viewed as his thuggish response to the Freedom Convoy, said: 'Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas. They can stand with people who wave the Confederate flag.' Lantsman, in shock that the prime minister would accuse a person of her history of such behaviour, demanded an apology, which she never got.

"Last week, when thousands of parents from coast to coast took to the streets to express their discontent with explicit sexual content in schools and radical gender ideology, Trudeau issued a statement inferring all involved are opposed to the rights of the LGBTQ community. 'Transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia have no place in this country. We strongly condemn this hate and its manifestations,' he said in a social media post. Others went further. In an email, members of the Greater Victoria Teachers Association were warned that 'these campaigns are being organized by known white supremacist groups. These campaigns use dog whistle techniques that try to frame their hateful message as "protecting children".' Police shut down the Victoria #1MillionMarch4Children because they couldn’t keep participants safe from a large mob of counter protesters.

"None of this is useful. Hyperbolic portrayals of anyone who disagrees with the left’s increasingly radical policies as goose-stepping psychos serve only to deepen divisions in society. Yet for years, it has been encouraged by a prime minister far too comfortable questioning the need to tolerate or accommodate dissenting views. Let this past week teach him and others that it is their job to heal wounds, not manufacture and exploit them. Too bad it took a humbling encounter with real Nazi history to remind them of that."

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/peter-menzies-embarrassing-fallout-of-mistakenly-honouring-a-nazi-a-richly-deserved-moment-of-karma-for-feds-5497913?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=top-news-opinion-0

Trudeau Blames Nazi Ovation On RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA: Rising | The Hill | September 26, 2023:

UPDATE: Anthony Rota resigns as Speaker after honouring Ukrainian veteran who fought with Nazi unit | CBC News | John Paul Tasker:

September 27, 2023 - "September Liberal MP Anthony Rota is stepping down as House of Commons Speaker after inviting a former Ukrainian soldier who fought in a Nazi division to Parliament.... Rota's resignation will take effect at the end of the sitting day on Wednesday."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/speaker-anthony-rota-resignation-1.6978422