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What is the notwithstanding clause? Explaining Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Alberta government is invoking Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — commonly referred to as the notwithstanding clause — in its legislation forcing striking teachers back to ...

Canadians must not stand for the notwithstanding clause’s pre-emptive use

Legislatures have used the Charter’s override function to shield laws that violate basic freedoms from the scrutiny of courts ...
Jurist

Quebec premier threatens use of ‘notwithstanding clause’ in Canadian rights charter to retain doctors in public system

Quebec Premier François Legault announced on Wednesday that his government is prepared to use the so-called “notwithstanding clause” to require doctors trained in that Canadian province to start their ...
Yahoo

NDP reintroduces notwithstanding clause bill as spring session starts at Manitoba Legislature

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Justice Minister Matt Wiebe speaks during question period at the Manitoba Legislature on Wednesday, after he reintroduced ...
Yahoo Finance

Joint Statement from Canada’s Education Leaders In Opposition to the Use of the Notwithstanding Clause in Labour Negotiations

BANFF, Alberta, June 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teacher organization presidents from across Canada, representing more than 420,000 educators, met in Banff, Alberta, on June 1, 2026, to discuss the ...
The Conversation

It’s time to banish the notwithstanding clause, the slow killer of Canada’s rule of law

I have written before that the far-right populist nationalism of the sort that fuelled the events of Jan. 6, 2021 in the United States and the so-called “freedom convoy” of February 2022 in Canada are ...
JD Supra

Judicial Review Notwithstanding the Charter’s “Notwithstanding” Clause? Yes, Says Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal

On August 11, 2025, the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (SKCA) released a major decision about section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), which is colloquially referred to ...
World Socialist Web Site

Sharp lurch of official Canadian politics to the right expressed in increasing use of anti-democratic “notwithstanding clause”

The Bloc Québécois (BQ) took advantage of a recent “opposition day” in the federal parliament to table a motion calling on the House of Commons to “remind the [Justin Trudeau-led Liberal] government ...
The Conversation

Preventing use of the notwithstanding clause is a bad idea — and unnecessary

During the Cold War era, American military strategists thought the Soviet Union would be deterred from dropping a nuclear bomb on North America only if the United States also built up sufficient ...

Notwithstanding Clause | National Post

The top court's decision on Quebec's secularism law is expected in the coming months ...
World Socialist Web Site

Far-right Alberta government invokes “Notwithstanding Clause” for fourth time in two months, as onslaught on democratic rights accelerates across Canada

Thumping their desks and shouting “Hear, hear!,” the legislators of Alberta’s governing far-right United Conservative Party (UCP) passed Bill 9 in the middle of the night on December 10 after using ...