The notwithstanding clause threatens our democracy

Nine Supreme Court judges will have to decide if the notwithstanding clause completely extinguishes the fundamental and legal rights of Canadians.

In recent years, the Quebec government of Premier François Legault has used the notwithstanding clause extensively, writes Andrew Caddell.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY ANDREW CADDELL

June 18, 2025

KAMOURASKA, QUE.—Are Quebec’s anglophones and allophones Canada’s canaries in the constitutional coal mine? That thought struck me last week while chairing a remarkable webinar on Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms, otherwise known as the notwith...

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