e-2044 (Constitutional amendments)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• Section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms “guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”;
• A fundamental purpose of constitutionally enshrined rights in a free and democratic society is to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens from being suspended at the arbitrary discretion of governments;
• The “notwithstanding clause” (section 33) allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to suspend fundamental freedoms, legal rights, and equality rights simply by declaring that they are doing so;
• The notwithstanding clause contradicts the requirement that “reasonable limits... be demonstrably justified”, which insulates Parliament and provincial legislatures from judicial oversight, and allows governments to act with impunity, defeating a basic purpose of rights and freedoms being enshrined in a constitution; and
• Canadians have never been directly consulted on a provision that renders their fundamental freedoms, legal rights, and equality rights (sections 2 and 7 to 15) of the Charter subject to arbitrary suspension at the sole discretion of Parliament or a provincial legislature.