Canadian Politics Today

One other thing I do not understand.  What is the "notwithstanding clause" all about?

The charter authors knew there would be conflicts between the rulings of unelected judges creating new interpretations of the general principles in the charter and the democratically expressed will of the people. The notwithstanding clause is an important limit on the power of the judiciary which allows the elected representatives to over rule them. This check which has only needed to be used rarely, however, as the cost of implementing the various rulings rises there we will eventually get to the point where legislatures need to routinely invoke it in order to manage government finances responsibly.