What Ottawa should say to the provinces: See your notwithstanding clause, raise you disallowance
Now we know why Doug Ford didn’t have time to appear before the Emergencies Act inquiry: he was busy preparing his latest assault on the Charter of Rights.
Add in the Legault government’s two invocations of the clause in Quebec, and that’s five actual or attempted uses of the constitutional override in Canada’s two largest provinces in the last four years. In fairness, its drafters genuinely never imagined it would be used like this. The clause was to be deployed in the most rare and urgent crises, if at all – not in response to every provincial hangnail. That was the clear understanding at the time – part of a careful balancing of concessions, not only between those who wanted ironclad rights guarantees and those who preferred parliamentary supremacy, but also between the federal and provincial governments.
A Charter that applies only if and when governments decide it should – a constraint that does not bind – is as good as no Charter at all. Yet that is where we are headed, if nothing is done.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Asset managers pay vastly unequal fees for using indexesIndex providers often bundle products and services, which makes accurate like-for-like comparisons problematic for asset managers to find
Read more »
GUNTER: Using Emergencies Act shows Liberals are out of touchThere is a link between the Rouleau Commission and Trudeau Liberals’ Internet censorship law that is currently being debated in the Senate.
Read more »
Police pondered using health officials to relieve ‘pressure’ and ‘passion’ of ‘Freedom Convoy’High-ranking police officers were strategizing during the “Freedom Convoy” about how engagement with federal officials and having Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam set a timeline for lifting restrictions could help end the occupation.
Read more »
Ontario PCs invoke Charter’s notwithstanding clause to impose contract on education unionOntario introduced unprecedented back-to-work legislation on Monday, aiming to impose a four-year contract on school support workers. The government is using the notwithstanding clause to prevent any legal challenges.
Read more »
Justin Long: 'I really enjoy marijuana... probably a little too much'Justin Long acknowledges during a recent Q&A that some of his responses may have meandered, but the actor has a quick answer as to why: All the weed he smokes — via TheGrowthOp
Read more »
Justin Long: 'I really enjoy marijuana... probably a little too much'Justin Long acknowledges during a recent Q&A that some of his responses may have meandered, but the actor has a quick answer as to why: All the weed he smokes — via TheGrowthOp
Read more »