You hear that wannabe god king Pierre Poilievre.
This ruling makes me glad that a Project 2025 and a similar legal hellscape in the US will not happen here in Canada, at least not unless Poilievre hatches a plan to replace our current Supreme Court with political hacks. We will have time to stop that but keep your eyes open over the next few years.
He doesn’t really need to. With the notwithstanding clause, he can just say, “That’s really nice, but we’re still going to do it.” It’s worth noting that it’s only been used 5 times, never at the federal level, and always controversial.
There are always consequences to the notwithstanding clause, too. The only way for him to get away without consequences would be to move so fast and continuously that the courts couldn’t keep up with him.
Pierre Trudeau had to invoke the War Measures Act, and that had a permanent impact on his political career.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed the federal government does not have absolute immunity from liability when Parliament enacts laws that are later overturned as unconstitutional.
The ruling says the decision is meant to strike a balance between “the protection of constitutional rights and the need for effective government.”
“The government and its representatives are required to exercise their powers in good faith and to respect the ‘established and indisputable’ laws that define the constitutional rights of individuals,” the ruling says.
The ruling stems from the case of Joseph Power, who was convicted on two counts of sexual assault and sentenced to eight months in prison.
When that law was later found to be unconstitutional, Power filed a notice seeking damages from the federal government in court.
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld that ruling, freeing Power to pursue damages.
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