“So anytime a government chooses to invoke the notwithstanding clause to override the charter’s protections, it has to be done deliberately, carefully and with the utmost forethought and reflection,” the prime minister said. Speaking in Winnipeg Tuesday, Trudeau said that Canadians value the charter and its protections against “governments that overreach. “We’re disappointed by the provincial government in Ontario’s choice to invoke the notwithstanding clause, but I won’t be weighing in on the debate on how big Toronto municipal council should be,” he said. The clause was intended to give Ottawa or the provinces a mechanism to overrule Charter rights that conflict with their legislative agenda. But the MP for Spadina-Fort York was wary too about setting precedents if Ottawa moved on legal action around Ontario’s use of the notwithstanding clause.

Source: thestar September 11, 2018 21:52 UTC