Two Canadian men, David MacKinnon and Aris Lavranos, yesterday launched legal proceedings in the Federal Court with the backing of the right-wing Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).

They seek a declaration that Mr Trudeau’s decision to advise Canada’s governor-general to exercise her prerogative power to prorogue the Canadian parliament until 24 March 2025 was “incorrect, unreasonable or both”.

As long as the parliament is prorogued, the parliamentary session is terminated, and all parliamentary activity, including work on bills and in committees, will be stopped.

The court application contends that Mr Trudeau’s decision “was not made in furtherance of parliamentary business or the business of government, but in service of the interests of the [Liberal Party of Canada]” to which he belongs.

The application makes direct reference to the UK Supreme Court’s 2019 ruling that then-prime minister Boris Johnson had unlawfully prorogued the Westminster parliament to avoid scrutiny over Brexit.

Lawyer James Manson said: “This prorogation stymies the publicly stated intent of a majority of MPs to bring a motion for non-confidence in the government and trigger an election.

“Prorogation serves the interests of the Liberal Party, but it does not further parliamentary business or the business of government. It violates the constitutional principles of parliamentary sovereignty and parliamentary accountability.

“We will invite the court to conclude that the prime minister’s decision to advise the governor-general to prorogue parliament was without reasonable justification.”