Author Topic: Ontario Government of Doug Ford  (Read 12955 times)

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Offline SirJohn

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Re: Ontario Government of Doug Ford
« Reply #75 on: September 15, 2018, 10:51:26 am »
Ted Morton gives context to the reason for the notwithstanding clause. As well as its use.

Back in 1981, the governments of the western provinces were suspicious of both Trudeau and his handpicked chief justice of the Supreme Court, Bora Laskin. Alberta was still reeling from the impact of Trudeau’s National Energy Program and a Laskin-led Supreme Court had just ruled against provincial regulation of natural resource development in two cases from Saskatchewan. The four western premiers — representing three different political parties — viewed Laskin as sharing the same pro-Ottawa values as Trudeau.

They saw the Charter — accurately as it has turned out — to potentially be a disguised form of “disallowance,” the historic constitutional power that allowed the federal cabinet to overrule provincial laws. Only, under the Charter, it would be federally appointed judges exercising the policy veto over provincial laws rather than the federal cabinet. The premiers never would have given Trudeau the support he needed without the notwithstanding clause.

Although it was born of political necessity, the notwithstanding power is fully justified in theory. It represents a creative middle ground between parliamentary supremacy and judicial supremacy. It strikes a balance between Canada’s tradition of responsible government and the American model of judicial review of a constitutional bill of rights.


https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ted-morton-provinces-demanded-notwithstanding-powers-for-good-reason-they-should-use-them
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