Helena Guergis’ lawsuit has been dismissed.
Judge Charles Hackland ruled Friday that Harper’s ability to appoint cabinet ministers was not a matter the court could rule on, even in the face of the Guergis’s claim of a conspiracy to oust her. “The subject of this alleged conspiracy is conduct protected by the doctrine of Crown prerogative and is, therefore, beyond the jurisdiction of this Court,” he said in a written decision. “The plaintiff’s removal from caucus is similarly protected from review by the doctrine of parliamentary privilege and, on the same basis, is beyond review by this Court.”
This, Hackland said, was a matter of settled law and established in previous cases. Any judicial oversight of caucus membership “would undermine parliamentary privilege and subject this purely political decision-making to review by the courts,” Hackland wrote.
Ms. Guergis is apparently planning to appeal.