Court dismisses legal challenge to Trudeau's prorogation decision

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 9:37 PM EST | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

A justice has dismissed a tribunal situation that sought to overturn the existent suspension of Parliament.

In a determination released Thursday, Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton ruled that the applicants had failed to amusement that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had "exceeded immoderate of the limits" of the constitution erstwhile helium advised the Governor General to prorogue Parliament backmost successful January.

Two Nova Scotia men — backed by a fig of ineligible advocacy groups — had asked the tribunal to state the existent prorogation amerciable due to the fact that determination indispensable beryllium a "reasonable justification" for hitting the intermission button.

But Crampton disagreed with their arguments.

"In the lack of immoderate transgression connected immoderate Charter rights, it was not incumbent upon the Prime Minister to supply immoderate justification oregon different reasons for advising the Governor General to prorogue Parliament," helium wrote.

"Moreover, the Prime Minister's prime to prorogue Parliament alternatively than dissolve Parliament and telephone an predetermination is not justiciable. Among different things, this is simply a highly governmental prime and determination does not look to beryllium immoderate nonsubjective oregon different ineligible standards against which to reappraisal that choice."

Trudeau announced successful aboriginal January that helium would beryllium resigning arsenic premier curate and that Parliament would beryllium prorogued until the Liberal Party chose a caller leader. 

The applicants had argued that by asking for a parliamentary pause, Trudeau was lone serving the interests of himself and his enactment — not Canadians. They argued that the premier curate asked to suspend Parliament to flight a assurance ballot helium would surely lose, since the Liberals lone person a number authorities and had mislaid the enactment of the different large parties.

But Crampton disagreed with the applicants connected this point. He said they couldn't "establish when, if astatine all, a non-confidence ballot apt would person occurred," and that they yet conceded that the authorities had the assurance of the House erstwhile Parliament was suspended.

Crampton besides ruled that the applicants were incapable to beryllium Trudeau's determination was solely for partisan reasons. 

As portion of his justification, Trudeau had argued that the House needed a "reset" aft being gridlocked connected a privilege contented for immoderate time.

"It is not imaginable to disentangle the partisan reasons from those different considerations, for the intent of determining whether the wide determination was beyond the premier minister's authority," Crampton wrote.

Crampton wrote that helium understood the applicants' concerns, but they had inactive failed to beryllium Trudeau had exceeded his ineligible authority.

Legal experts had predicted that immoderate ineligible situation to the determination to prorogue would look an uphill battle.

The Liberals volition denote its adjacent person connected Sunday.