"It is indeed unusual, novel and unprecedented for the House to order documents not for its own purposes but for a third party," Speaker Greg Fergus said.Photo by Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Government seemingly violated House powers on 'green slush fund' docs, Speaker rules

Fergus' ruling was celebrated by opposition parties, but Government House leader Karina Gould said it set a 'terrible precedent'

by · National Post

OTTAWA — House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled that the government appears to have violated the vast powers of the Commons when it failed to surrender records on the so-called “green slush fund” so they could be turned over to the RCMP, even though the force doesn’t want them.

The Speaker’s ruling is the latest in the “unusual, novel and unprecedented” battle between MPs and the Liberal government over the extent of parliamentary privilege over thousands of unredacted records regarding Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), the government green fund that was plagued by scandal before being ordered shut down earlier this year. What is unusual is that MPs wanted the documents to share with a third party, namely the RCMP.

Battle over sending 'green slush fund' docs to RCMP sends House into 'uncharted territory'OTTAWA — The Liberals say the House of Commons exceeded its powers when MPs ordered the government to hand over all documents related to the so-called “green slush fund” so they can be sent to the RCMP.Christopher Nardi, 19 Sep 2024Conservatives accuse Liberal government of disobeying order from House of CommonsOTTAWA — A brewing battle between the House of Commons and the federal public service over documents linked to the so-called “green slush fund” came to a head Monday, with Conservatives accusing the government of disobeying an order from MPs to provide unredacted records.Christopher Nardi, 16 Sep 2024