Justice Minister Sean Fraser has firmly rejected calls from five provincial premiers to withdraw Ottawa’s legal submission seeking limits on the use of the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause, setting up a high-stakes constitutional clash between federal and provincial governments.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Fraser said it would be “unimaginable” for the federal government to avoid intervening in a Supreme Court case that could have lasting implications for Canadians’ Charter rights. He dismissed the premiers’ position as “untenable,” insisting the issue should be resolved by the courts, not through political pressure.
“The interplay of the notwithstanding clause, vis-à-vis the rights and freedoms that the Charter guarantees to all Canadians, is something that will be of national importance, that will have lasting impacts,” Fraser said. “It is unimaginable that a federal government would not intervene to share its perspective on the meaning of the Charter — particularly at a time when, in Canada and around the world, democracies are increasingly under strain.”
The legal battle stems from Ottawa’s filing last month in a Supreme Court case concerning Quebec’s secularism law, in which the federal government argued that constitutional limits should prevent the notwithstanding clause from being used to override Charter rights wholesale. The clause allows provincial legislatures and Parliament to pass legislation that overrides certain Charter provisions for renewable five-year periods.
The premiers of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, demanding Ottawa withdraw its submission. They argued the federal stance “amounts to a complete disavowal of the constitutional bargain that brought the Charter into being” and poses a threat to national unity. “The federal government’s position amounts to a direct attack on the foundational constitutional principles of federalism and democracy,” the letter stated.
Fraser, who also serves as attorney general, countered that protecting rights must take precedence. He warned that the erosion of rights through misuse of the notwithstanding clause could have dangerous long-term consequences. “Canada’s possible future downfall as a nation, should it ever come, will not come about through invasion but through some future government who is empowered by an erosion of our rights today,” he said. “If we are not very careful, we are going to see, bit by bit, the rights that we enjoy as Canadians will come to cease to exist and we will have no one but ourselves to blame.”
The federal government’s intervention has already drawn sharp criticism from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who called it “the worst decision” Prime Minister Carney has ever made, arguing that unelected judges should not block provincial legislatures from exercising their powers.
The Supreme Court’s eventual decision on this case is expected to shape the future balance between legislative authority and constitutional rights in Canada for years to come.