When federal Justice Minister David Lametti reacted last week to the adoption of Quebec’s language law reform, he took aim at the provincial government’s proactive use of the notwithstanding clause to shield the law from constitutional challenges.
Lametti and other critics of Bill 96 say the government’s use of that clause—Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms—shuts down debate and prevents a proper judicial review of the legislation. The proactive use of Section 33, which permits a government to override certain provisions of the Constitution, is an “unintended negative consequence in our political system,” he said.
