@tod This is an awesome review of the "Notwitstanding Clause" and something everyone of all political stripes should watch. Well done sir. #CDNelection2025 #cdnpoli #notwithstandingclause We must reduce the overuse of this political tool and it should never ever be used by the federal government. That's what the emergencies act is for (the federal government).
I think that debate about using the #NotwithstandingClause to overturn R. v. Bissonnette (thereby permitting longer time without parole) is a winning one for Conservatives.
When the debate is an abstract one about Charter rights and judicial vs. parliamentary supremacy, opponents of the #NotwithstandingClause have reasonable arguments to make. But then the proponents will bring up specific crimes and voters will want stiffer penalties.
For instance...
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@HarriettMB
Exactly this. Folks need to understand what’s happening in the US is part of a global strategy to undermine democratic rule. The application of this strategy varies depending on the country in question, but basically the gameplan is to exploit ‘weaknesses’ in each countries legal code in order to chip away at the democratic order and install fascism. In Canada, that exploit is the #NotwithstandingClause.
Pierre Poilievre is boasting about his intention to use the #NotwithstandingClause to override people’s Charter rights in order to implement his ‘tough on crime’ agenda.
I want #Canadians to consider this within the context of the extrajudicial arrests and disappearances currently happening in Trump’s America, and then think long & hard about whether #Poilievre is the guy we want to put in charge.
While #Trump is illegally ignoring Supreme Court decisions in order to advance his #fascist agenda, #PierrePoilievre, as Prime Minister, would seek to use, for the first time ever by the federal government, the Canadian Constitution's #NotwithstandingClause in order to end what he calls "#WokeCulture" in the #PublicService and in the #military.
But he denies being a "mini-Trump"
#NeverPoilievre #LGBTQrights #AbortionRights #HumanRights #NeverVoteConservative
#Never51
@Poli_Tics
Dougie made the list too. Ford’s move shows how the #NotwithstandingClause can (and has) been used to strip away other right (besides those of minority communities), like worker’s rights.
They intend to use this as a blanket ‘get out of jail free’ card. And if we elect a federal Conservative government, there will be no one left to stand up for the rights of Canadians.
@Poli_Tics
You may notice a trend regarding which provinces have invoked the #NotwithstandingClause; it’s always #Conservative governments.
Some might say the test cases have already happened, and now they’re looking to roll this strategy out at the national level.
A vote for a #Conservative government is a vote against your Constitutionally-protected rights.
Choose carefully.
@Poli_Tics
Using it this way would be a test-case; relatively easy to push through because everyone hates murderers, right?
Nobody should kid themselves that it wouldn’t be used again and again whenever the Conservatives want to pass some law that infringes on Canadian’s constitutional rights. It’s already happening in the provinces.
Wake up Canada, fascism is huffing and puffing and will blow our house down too.
For clarity, the global fascist’s playbook involves twisting a country’s rules and manipulating its institutions in order to consolidate power and overcome impediments to unilateral rule. In #Canada the biggest weakness encoded in our constitution is the #NotwithstandingClause, which enables provincial governments to ‘opt out’ of federal legislation if they feel it encroaches on provincial sovereignty, and we’ve seen multiple instance of provincial Conservative governments invoking the NWC in order to ram through their agendas. Recently now, we’re even seeing PM Conservative hopeful Pierre #Poillievre alluding to invoking the NWC federally in order to pass likely-unconstitutional ‘tough on crime’ legislation.
The global rise of fascism is a coordinated effort to undermine democracies worldwide to the benefit of the multinational oligarchs.
@camerondotca
Personally, I think the Québec sign law is a reasonable compromise, even if it infringes on freedom of expression. Legislatures are generally better at hammering out compromises than courts.
On the other hand, there are cases in which the #NotwithstandingClause has been used foolishly, e.g., to deny jobs to teachers who choose to wear headscarves.
And personally I want the clause to be used to overrule the decision on sentencing in R. v. Bissonnette.
@camerondotca
Before the Charter, Canada had a constitutional system of parliamentary supremacy. By bringing in the Charter, we gave judges the power to override democracy in the name of specified rights. That inevitably leads to differences in interpretation [0], and so we adopted the #NotwithstandingClause to give parliament the final word.
[0] Even the Supreme Court of today sometimes finds that the Supreme Court of 1990 was mistaken.
@Paulatics
Why? A law was passed, the Supreme Court struck it down on Charter grounds; re-enacting it with the #NotwithstandingClause invoked would be a response to the Supreme Court's judgement, not pre-emptive.
At least that's the way I see it.
When Merv Leitch and Peter Lougheed created the notwithstanding clause, they couldn't have imagined a Canada where premiers could invoke the clause without political or moral hazard. The Senate is now debating a provocative proposition. Should we vow, preemptively, to refuse to pass any law that preemptively deploys the clause? Here's my take - which starts with a little history lesson. https://youtu.be/IEnAWFmLdjE?si=8pSfngoXZJ2fYDMV #SenateofCanada #NotwithstandingClause #cdnpoli #Alberta #abpoli #Vriend
If you are a mayor of an Ontario municipality, and the ONLY WAY you can see to governing that municipality is by asking the premier to take away the basic Human Rights of your poorest constituents, then you are a shit mayor who should resign in total shame.
Like the mayors of THESE cities:
Barrie
Brampton
Pickering
Brantford
Chatem-Kent
Clarington
Oakville
Oshawa
Sudbury
Windsor
Pickering
St Catherines
Cambridge
[Canada] Windsor mayor supports notwithstanding clause to clear homeless encampments
https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/windsor-mayor-supports-notwithstanding-clause-to-clear-homeless-encampments-1.7096481
* joins 11 Ontario mayors urging Premier Doug Ford to empower municipalities
* anti-homelessness discrimination
* pot. use of notwithstanding clause, Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_33_of_the_Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms
Is your mayor asking the Province to trample on human rights again? Find out here: https://www.thetrillium.ca/news/housing/mayors-accept-fords-invitation-to-ask-for-notwithstanding-clause-9740513.
One thing that people forget in #Canada, is that we have this thing called the #notwithstandingclause, which can be used to abrogate any and all human rights. This is why the elections coming up in #BC and elsewhere are so fucking important.
We need a check against the House of Commons use of the notwithstanding clause. The Senate could be that check we need #Canada #cdnpoli #notwithstandingclause
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-notwithstanding-clause-constitution-1.7300921
On the flip side, there are *things* Poiievre will tamper with that the current govt will not.
#cdnpoli #EvangelicalPatriarchy #NotWithstandingClause
#LGBTQ #reproductiveRIghts #seniors
