Ontario Premier Doug Ford pretends to drink from a beer can after announcing the province is speeding up the expansion of alcohol sales. The May 2024 announcement has raised questions about the government’s financial priorities.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Amid speculation that Doug Ford may call an early election in Ontario, there are several issues that should amount to a moment of deep political vulnerability for his government.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs delivers the State of the Province speech in Fredericton, N.B. in January 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
New Brunswick’s proposed Compassion Intervention Act could motivate the Supreme Court of Canada to impose restrictions on the notwithstanding clause.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks to the media at the Saskatchewan legislature in Regina. His government plans to invoke the notwithstanding clause to override a judge’s injunction and introduce legislation about the province’s pronoun policy in school.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
The only solution to the ominous threats posed by the increasing use of the notwithstanding clause is to amend Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A protester walks along the sidewalk in front of the Parliament buildings in February 2022 in Ottawa.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
There’s no equivalence between invoking the Emergencies Act and the pre-emptive invocation of the notwithstanding clause, which guts Canadian democracy and nullifies the Charter.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a news conference, as Education Minister Stephen Lecce looks on in Toronto on Nov. 7, 2022. Ontario has repealed legislation that imposed a contract on 55,000 education workers and invoked the notwithstanding clause.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A Supreme Court reference on the notwithstanding clause could look beyond the highly polarized reactions to any particular law and get at the heart of the issue.
CUPE members and supporters join a demonstration outside the office of Parm Gill, Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Milton, Ont., on Nov. 4, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
Frustration about unsettled bargaining that predates the pandemic could get channelled into pronounced resistance from educational workers during the coming months.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford sits in the Ontario legislature during Question Period as members debate a bill meant to avert a planned strike by 55,000 education workers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The Ontario government’s latest use of the notwithstanding clause is at odds with its stated intention to keep kids in school amid a labour dispute — and at odds with the heart of labour relations norms.
The Canadian flag flies in front of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa in 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The notwithstanding clause is both historically appropriate and democratically desirable. Excising it would make our Charter of Rights and Freedoms more American. Is that really where we want to go?
Back to the drawing board? The Ontario government’s changes to third-party election spending laws could be amended to fairly balance people’s Charter rights with meeting legislative objectives.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins
Provincial regulations have major implications for the freedom of expression exercised by individuals and organizations in Ontario in the months leading up to the June election.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford walks to his office in June 2020 as legislators debated the government’s legislation that enabled it to invoke the notwithstanding clause.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
By paying greater attention to the originally intended application of the Canadian Constitution’s notwithstanding clause, along with the diversity of lawmakers in Canada, there’s a better path forward.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks as Ontario Premier Doug Ford listens at a groundbreaking event at a gold mine in 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ontario has historically been the province in Confederation most concerned about buoying Ottawa and limiting its own relative power for the sake of national unity. Doug Ford puts that legacy at risk.
Quebec premier-designate François Legault gestures as he addresses a meeting of his new caucus on Oct. 3, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Threats by two of Canada’s newest premiers to invoke the notwithstanding clause send a clear message to the federal Liberals: Ontario and Quebec do not play by the rules.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threat to wield the notwithstanding clause reveals flaws in Canada’s Constitution in terms of how municipalities are completely unprotected.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ontario’s recent threat to use the notwithstanding clause to reduce the size of Toronto’s city council is a reminder that municipalities have little protection under the Constitution.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters in Toronto on Sept. 10, 2018, after announcing he’ll invoke the notwithstanding clause in his battle to shrink Toronto city council. Is Ford taking on the “Court Party?”
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov.
Doug Ford’s wielding of the notwithstanding clause is part of a broader opposition to judicial activism that has developed among right-wing politicians and academics in the post-Charter era.