After a brief retreat, politicians are again clamouring for the notwithstanding clause [Video]

When a public backlash compelled Ontario Premier Doug Ford to abandon his use of the notwithstanding clause to end a labour dispute in 2022, it was possible to believe the tide had turned back against the Charter of Rights’ escape hatch — that political leaders would again have to think twice before trying to sidestep a court’s conclusion that the rights of an individual or group had been violated.

But the latest calls to invoke the clause — to clear homeless encampments in some Ontario cities — suggest the political temptation to override inconvenient rights is still strong. As a result, the practice of invoking the notwithstanding clause, contrary to its original intent, is again at risk of becoming normalized.

These new calls also show how it’s the most disadvantaged, vulnerable and outnumbered members of society who have the most to fear when human rights exist at the whim of the majority. 

When 13 mayors wrote a public letter…