Attempt by Liberals to sue Speaker `ill-advised'

OTTAWA • The House Speaker says he intends to ask the federal court to strike down the Trudeau government's attempt to have a judge block parliamentarians from receiving documents regarding the firing of two scientists at Canada's top lab.

“As Speaker of the House of Commons and guardian of its parliamentary privileges, I will oppose the Attorney General's application and take the position that the Federal Court has no jurisdiction to restrict the House's power to request documents,” Anthony Rota wrote in a letter addressed to parliamentarians Friday.

“The Attorney General has been advised of our position, and the necessary steps will be taken before the Court,” his letter concluded.

Rota's letter was sent on the same day his office formally notified the federal court that it intended to respond to the Liberals' lawsuit earlier this week asking the federal court to prohibit the disclosure of documents that a majority of MPS formally demanded from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). In a statement provided to National Post, Rota's director of communications clarified he intends to ask the court to strike down the Liberals' request for judicial review if the government does not withdraw it.

After the request for judicial review was filed by the Liberal government Wednesday, Rota told MPS that he would fight “tooth and nail” to protect the principle “that the legal system does not have jurisdiction over the operations of the House. We are our own (court).”

The unusual legal battle between the federal government and the Speaker stems from a series of documents related to the firing of Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng. Both were scientists at Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory when they were escorted out in July 2019 and later fired.

Earlier this week, the National Post revealed that Qiu collaborated with Chinese government scientists on inventions patented in Beijing that were closely related to her job in Canada's top-security lab. Federal civil servants are not allowed to file such patents without permission.

Since the firing came to light, opposition MPS have passed multiple motions — first at the parliamentary Canada-china relations committee, and then in the House of Commons — demanding that PHAC release the unredacted documents related to the firing.

PHAC president Iain Stewart has consistently refused, and the situation escalated to the point where he was ordered to the House of Commons on Monday to be admonished by Rota and hand over the documents.

Though he did appear for his admonishment, he showed up empty-handed and the government has continued to refuse to disclose the documents, arguing that they may contain information that could be “injurious to international relations or national defence or national security” if published.