Chamber
manitoba
Stage
Introduced
This Manitoba bill requires a court review every time the notwithstanding clause is used in provincial legislation.
Key Changes
- Requires the Manitoba government to automatically refer any law using the notwithstanding clause to the Court of Appeal for review
- The Court of Appeal must give its opinion on whether the law violates Charter rights (sections 2 or 7–15)
- The Court must also assess whether any rights violation is reasonable and justified under Section 1 of the Charter
- The referral to the Court of Appeal must happen within 90 days of the law being passed
- Adds a new section (1.1) to the existing Constitutional Questions Act
Gotchas
- The Court of Appeal's opinion is advisory only — the bill does not say the government must follow the court's findings or that the law is struck down if the court finds a rights violation
- The bill does not apply retroactively — it would only cover laws passed after it receives royal assent
- The review process adds transparency but does not limit the government's legal ability to use the notwithstanding clause, since that power comes from the Constitution itself
- There is no stated consequence if the government fails to make the referral within the 90-day window
- The bill only applies to Manitoba provincial uses of the notwithstanding clause, not federal uses
Who's Affected
- The Manitoba provincial government (Lieutenant Governor in Council), which must initiate the court referral
- The Manitoba Court of Appeal, which must review and give opinions on these laws
- Manitoba residents whose Charter rights may be affected by notwithstanding clause legislation
- Manitoba legislators, who face increased scrutiny when invoking the notwithstanding clause
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Gotchas
- The Court of Appeal's opinion is advisory only — the bill does not say the government must follow the court's findings or that the law is struck down if the court finds a rights violation
- The bill does not apply retroactively — it would only cover laws passed after it receives royal assent
- The review process adds transparency but does not limit the government's legal ability to use the notwithstanding clause, since that power comes from the Constitution itself
- There is no stated consequence if the government fails to make the referral within the 90-day window
- The bill only applies to Manitoba provincial uses of the notwithstanding clause, not federal uses
Summary
This bill changes Manitoba's Constitutional Questions Act to add a new rule: whenever the Manitoba Legislature passes a law that uses 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 notwithstanding clause lets governments temporarily override certain Charter rights for up to five years at a time. The Court of Appeal would be asked two things: first, does the law actually violate any of the Charter rights it is overriding (such as freedom of expression, legal rights, or equality rights)? Second, if it does violate those rights, is the violation still reasonable and justifiable? The government must make this referral within 90 days of the law being passed. The bill was introduced to increase transparency and accountability when the government chooses to override Charter rights. The preamble notes that because federal and provincial governments have different powers, a federal use of the notwithstanding clause may not tell us much about what a provincial use would mean for Manitobans.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
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