Chamber
manitoba
Stage
Introduced
This Manitoba bill requires automatic court review whenever the notwithstanding clause is used in provincial legislation.
Key Changes
- Requires the Lieutenant Governor in Council to refer any Manitoba law invoking the notwithstanding clause to the Court of Appeal within 90 days of enactment
- The Court of Appeal must give its opinion on whether the law violates Charter rights under sections 2 or 7–15
- The Court of Appeal must also assess whether any violation is reasonable and justified under Section 1 of the Charter
- Creates an automatic, mandatory review process — the government does not have discretion to skip the referral
- Comes into force immediately upon receiving royal assent
Gotchas
- The Court of Appeal's opinion is advisory only — it does not legally block or invalidate the law using the notwithstanding clause
- The bill does not prevent the government from proceeding with a law even if the Court finds it violates Charter rights
- The preamble notes that federal use of the notwithstanding clause covers federal powers and may not reflect the impact of provincial use, suggesting this review is specifically tailored to provincial context
- The 90-day referral window means the law could already be in effect before the Court of Appeal completes its review
- This bill adds a procedural accountability step but does not change the legal effect or duration of the notwithstanding clause override itself
Who's Affected
- The Manitoba provincial government (Lieutenant Governor in Council)
- The Manitoba Court of Appeal
- Manitoba residents whose Charter rights may be affected by notwithstanding clause legislation
- Manitoba legislators who pass laws invoking the notwithstanding clause
Vibes
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Gotchas
- The Court of Appeal's opinion is advisory only — it does not legally block or invalidate the law using the notwithstanding clause
- The bill does not prevent the government from proceeding with a law even if the Court finds it violates Charter rights
- The preamble notes that federal use of the notwithstanding clause covers federal powers and may not reflect the impact of provincial use, suggesting this review is specifically tailored to provincial context
- The 90-day referral window means the law could already be in effect before the Court of Appeal completes its review
- This bill adds a procedural accountability step but does not change the legal effect or duration of the notwithstanding clause override itself
Summary
This bill amends Manitoba's Constitutional Questions Act to require that whenever the Manitoba Legislature passes a law using the 'notwithstanding clause' (Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms), the provincial government must automatically send that law to the Manitoba Court of Appeal for review. The Court of Appeal must then give its opinion on whether the law violates Charter rights and whether those violations can be justified under Section 1 of the Charter. The notwithstanding clause allows governments to pass laws that override certain Charter rights for up to five years at a time. This bill does not stop the government from using the notwithstanding clause, but it adds a transparency requirement: the Court of Appeal must publicly assess the rights impacts of any such law within 90 days of it being passed. The bill was introduced because the Manitoba Legislature felt that overriding fundamental rights should come with the highest levels of transparency and accountability.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses