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Wednesday, September 10, 2025

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Parliament is subject to the law of the land, rule of law

Parliamentary inviolability does serious damage to the constitutional notions of the separation of powers, the rule of equality before the law, prosecutorial discretion, and the independence of the judiciary. Does not the notion of the legislative branch of the Western world’s parliaments deciding who may be prosecuted smack of elitism, of the old political class?

When Parliamentarians are elected, they acquire the universally accepted immunity or privilege of freedom of speech, which is designed to protect the interests of the institution. Beyond the walls of Parliament, like every other citizen, they are subject to the law of the land: the rule of law, writes Joseph Maingot. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Opinion
BY JOSEPH MAINGOT
August 15, 2022
Opinion | BY JOSEPH MAINGOT | August 15, 2022

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Independent Senator Mary Coyle is looking forward to hearing from three dozen young people about their hopes for the climate at the upcoming Canadian Youth Climate Assembly in the Senate Chamber on Sept. 21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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  • Also, Ben Mulroney takes over The West Block desk, former Liberal cabinet minister Ken Dryden has died, Senator Pierre Dalphond re-joins the Independent Senators Group, and a bunch of Conservative MPs past and present reconnect this past summer.

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