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<\/p>\nThe federal government is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to set limits around how provincial governments can override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.<\/p>\n
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Ottawa brought forward the request in a factum filed at the court on Wednesday, as part of the landmark case on Quebec\u2019s secularism law, known as Bill 21.<\/p>\n
Quebec has invoked the notwithstanding clause<\/a> of the Charter in its legislation.<\/p>\n The clause can be used by provinces to shield legislation from constitutional challenges, but in it\u2019s filing, the federal government urged the court to set limits on how the notwithstanding clause could be invoked.<\/p>\n It argued repeated use of the clause amounts to \u201cindirectly amending the Constitution,\u201d and that the court should be able to rule on whether it can result in the \u201cirreparable impairment\u201d of Canadians\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cThe prolonged impossibility of exercising a right or freedom would, in practice, be tantamount to denying its very existence,\u201d the lawyers warned in the factum submitted Wednesday to the court.<\/p>\n Ontario and Alberta have supported the use of the notwithstanding clause, saying it is an essential part of the Canadian Constitution and should not be undermined by the country\u2019s top court.<\/p>\n In arguments filed Wednesday as part of the landmark Supreme Court of Canada case, the two provinces defended Quebec\u2019s pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause when it passed its 2019 secularism law.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore on Politics The law prohibits public sector workers in positions of authority, including teachers and judges, from wearing religious symbols on the job.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n Ontario \u201cdoes not support Quebec\u2019s decision to require citizens to remove religious symbols to serve the public or to receive public services,\u201d the province\u2019s attorney general wrote in a 34-page factum. \u201cBut that is a decision for the national assembly, and ultimately the voters of Quebec, to make for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Both provinces say the notwithstanding clause, Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was fundamental to the negotiation of the 1982 Constitution and preserves the sovereignty of provincial legislatures. The clause allows governments to override some Charter rights and shield legislation from constitutional challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cSection 33 was\u2026 a hard-fought and hard-won compromise,\u201d Alberta\u2019s factum reads. \u201cSimply put, there would have been no Charter without (it).\u201d<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a legal challenge of Bill 21 brought by several groups that oppose the law, though a date for a hearing has not been set. Some of the appellants are asking the court to restrict the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause, or to find that courts can still weigh in on the constitutionality of a law that is allowed to stand when the clause is invoked.<\/p>\n \n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n
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