The notwithstanding clause has long passed its best-before date

Section 33 threatens the even application of the law, it undermines individual rights and freedom of expression, and it handcuffs the judiciary.

The Ontario and Quebec governments, led by Premiers Doug Ford, left, and François Legualt, respectively, have recently invoked the notwithstanding clause, which Andrew Caddell writes diminishes the Charter every time it’s used. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY ANDREW CADDELL

June 16, 2021

KAMOURASKA, QUE.—“An abject failure.” These were the words Pierre Elliott Trudeau used to describe the new Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, when asked for an assessment by reporters in November of 1982. He did not elaborate, but many experts speculate it was the inclusion ...

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