Bloc Québécois takes campaign to Ottawa to defend use of notwithstanding clause

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet made a rare campaign stop outside Quebec today to defend the right of provinces to draft bills that pre-emptively invoke the Charter's notwithstanding clause. Surrounded by candidates, Blanchet makes a campaign stop in front of the Supreme Court, Tuesday, April 8, 2025 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet made a rare campaign stop outside Quebec today to defend the right of provinces to adopt laws that pre-emptively invoke the Charter’s notwithstanding clause.

The clause, which is Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, shields legislation from legal challenges on the grounds that they violate certain fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of religion, expression and assembly.

Standing outside the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, Blanchet told reporters that Section 33 is a bulwark preserving the sovereignty of provincial legislatures.

The Quebec government has invoked the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively to shield its secularism law restricting the wearing of religious symbols by public servants as well as its latest reform to legislation protecting the French language.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said a Liberal government would join a challenge of the language law if it made it to the Supreme Court, because he does not support use of the notwithstanding clause before courts have a chance to consider whether legislation violates rights.

The Bloc leader says that one way to protect the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause would be for Quebec rather than the federal cabinet to choose the three Supreme Court judges who represent the province.

“The legislatures of Quebec and the provinces are … sovereign,” Blanchet said. “A legislature is always sovereign when it is acting within its jurisdiction — we should not resort to legal challenges to prevent it from exercising its rights, especially when it comes to measures that are widely supported by the population.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2025.