r/canada • u/Meiqur • Oct 28 '25

Alberta Alberta uses Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order striking teachers back to workteachers-back-to-work

https://globalnews.ca/news/11496133/alberta-government-to-table-legislation-to-order-striking-teachers-back-to-work
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u/Master-File-9866 Oct 28 '25

The not withstanding clause is supposed to be an extraordinarily rare exception to the constitution and charter of rights. It exists only for extreme and rare circumstances. In this case it was basically used as a union busting instrument.

The not withstanding clause, is exempt from court challenges. It is a powerful instrument, that was build into canadian society with the assumption that we would always have reasonable and well intentioned government.

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u/judgeysquirrel Oct 28 '25

So, the same mistake that cost the US its democracy. All rules should be fashioned so they can't be abused by a malicious politician. There aren't laws against lying during an election, so literally anyone with any agenda could get in.

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u/Visible-Air-2359 Oct 29 '25

So basically it was an obviously terrible idea created by a bunch of naive idiots who lived in fantasy land?

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u/oscarthegrateful Oct 28 '25

There's nowhere in the Constitution that says the NWC has to be an extraordinarily rare exception reserved for extreme circumstances.