Our Charter Rights Are What Is at Stake The Bill 21 appeal is about the notwithstanding clause, Charter rights, and limits on government override — not provincial power

Our Charter rights are what is at stake here. Clarity on this is important.
I wrote this to bring the issue back to where it belongs: your personal rights and freedoms.

open.substack.com/pub/paulstew...

#CharterRights #Bill21 #NotwithstandingClause #Section33

Alberta's Smith says notwithstanding clause increasingly likely amid unpopular court rulings Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a year-end interview she's increasingly willing to use the notwithstanding clause.

9/9 The conversation between the courts and the legislature has turned into a confrontation.

Smith's message is clear: #Section33 is no longer a nuclear option—it is a check on "ideological" rulings.

Matthew Black Edmonton Journal
edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...

2/9 The "gradual softening" on the clause hardened into policy.

In a year-end interview, Smith defended her recent use of #Section33 to force striking teachers back to work and shield #GenderIdentity laws.

👉 Her justification? The judiciary may no longer reflect the "values" of the province. 👈

2/9 The ATA "will pursue all legal alternatives to challenge Bill 2's egregious assault" on bargaining rights.

Union strategy is two-fold: a legal challenge, & a public one.

Perhaps a repeat of Ontario's 2022 public outcry which prompted the province to repeal a similar bill.

#ATA #Section33

2/9 The teachers' union was defiant in its early morning statement, warning: "This fight has just begun."

The #ATA "will pursue all legal alternatives to challenge Bill 2's egregious assault on the collective bargaining rights of teachers and, by extension, all workers."

#Section33 #Bill2 #ableg

4/8 Critically, #Bill2 also strips the union of its right to "collectively bargain local conditions" with individual school boards.

This normal part of Alberta #LabourRelations, Climenhaga notes, is now banned until the imposed contract expires in August 2028.

#Section33 #CollectiveBargaining

3/8 This was not a legal requirement, Wesley argues.

"The province already had the power to legislate an end to a strike... By adding Section 33, the government didn’t suddenly create authority it lacked; it attempted to place that authority beyond immediate judicial scrutiny."

#Section33

Could the government be using the notorious Section 33—the notwithstanding clause—to silence unions and override our fundamental rights? 

#Section33 #NotwithstandingClause #LabourRights #UnionFreedom

Danielle Smith’s recent stance on challenging federal authority and the courts. Her aggressive language suggests she is intentionally fueling tensions, possibly related to a looming referendum on separatism.
#DanielleSmith #AlbertaPolitics  #GreaterAlberta #CApolitics #Section33 #Separatism

5/10
In response, #Ontario and #Alberta have filed their own arguments supporting a province's sovereign right to use the clause.

While Ontario's filing notes it "does not support" Bill 21, it fiercely defends Quebec's authority to pass it and invoke #Section33.
#Federalism