The government must ensure that its use of emergency powers complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The preamble to the act refers to the charter, noting that the federal cabinet “would be subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” when exercising the powers granted by the act. To be clear, the charter — and the rest of the Constitution for that matter — would still govern the act even if the preamble did not mention the charter.
In fairness, the act is carefully drafted and features various checks and balances. It indeed appears to be designed to avoid, as much as possible, unjustifiable limits on charter rights and freedoms where a national emergency contemplated by the act is unfolding and the act is invoked.
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