Quebec Appeal Court Bill 21 Ruling Fuels Debate on Notwithstanding Clause

Hours after Quebec’s highest court upheld his state secularism law, Premier François Legault was triumphant. The decision was “a great victory for the nation of Quebec,” he said in a brief statement to reporters on Feb. 29. And he would not shy away from using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ notwithstanding clause—which he now prefers to call the “parliamentary sovereignty clause”—to ensure Canada respects the choices of Quebecers, he promised. But the Court of Appeal’s endorsement of the government’s use of the clause—which allows governments to override fundamental Charter rights—is sparking new debate about the place of the constitutional provision....