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OTTAWA — Ontario Premier Doug Ford took pointed aim at the federal Liberals on Thursday over Ottawa’s recent suggestion of limits on the ability of legislatures to invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause.
The notwithstanding clause gives provincial legislatures or Parliament the ability to pass legislation that effectively overrides provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but only for a five-year period.
In a filing to the Supreme Court of Canada in a case on Quebec’s secularism law, Ottawa argues the constitutional limits of the notwithstanding clause preclude it from being used “to distort or annihilate” the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Charter.
In a Sept. 18 statement about the federal intervention, Justice Minister Sean Fraser, who is also attorney general, said the case is about more than the immediate issues before the court.
“The Supreme Court’s decision will shape how both federal and provincial governments may use the notwithstanding clause for years to come,” he said.
In its submission to the Supreme Court in the case, the Ontario government says the notwithstanding clause is “fundamentally important to Canada’s constitutional democracy.”
The clause preserves the ability of democratically elected representatives to decide that certain laws are sufficiently important to the public interest that they must operate notwithstanding certain Charter provisions for a limited period of time, the submission adds.
Ontario also says the notwithstanding clause is not “a defect to be corrected or mitigated by judicial reinterpretation.”
Speaking to reporters in Vaughan, Ont., Ford singled out Fraser and Prime Minister Mark Carney as he denounced the federal position.
Ford called it “the worst decision” Carney has ever made, adding it “will be an absolute disaster.”
Ford, whose Progressive Conservative government has used the notwithstanding clause on more than one occasion, said legislatures are supreme, “not judges ruling on stuff that shouldn’t even be in front of the courts.”
“There’s not one person I’ve talked to that has said, ‘We want to give the judges — politically appointed judges — more authority,” Ford added. “I haven’t heard one person.”
He accused Fraser of having “messed up” his previous portfolios of immigration and housing.
“Now they put him in as attorney general?” he added.
Ford suggested that Fraser should focus on criminal justice issues such as bail reform and young offenders legislation instead of constitutional matters.
In a statement released by his office, Fraser did not directly address the premier’s remarks about the notwithstanding clause.
But Fraser said communities will not become safer through politicians taking swipes at one another.
“We are moving ahead with legislation this fall that will strengthen the Criminal Code and help protect communities against crime, and we welcome Ontario’s engagement as part of that effort,” Fraser said.
He said that engagement has included constructive meetings with provincial counterparts, including a conversation with Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey a few weeks ago.
“I found our conversation productive, and after sharing some of the ideas I intend to advance federally, it was clear we were aligned on the direction of the proposed reforms,” Fraser added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
