‘A quiet killing of the Charter’: experts debate spirit and letter of notwithstanding clause’s pre-emptive use

Despite the federal government's rhetoric, the Liberals may be reluctant to seek limits on the section's pre-emptive use and leave Ottawa ‘out of a tool,’ says law professor Howard Kislowicz.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Ford used the notwithstanding clause in back-to-work legislation to prevent thousands of Ontario education workers from going on strike. After backlash, the government repealed the anti-strike law. The Hill Time photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY IAN CAMPBELL

November 20, 2022

Legal and constitutional experts are split on the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause, with some saying it represents "a quiet killing of the Charter," while others said the practice goes against neither the spirit nor the letter of the section granting that power....

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