EDITORIAL: Carney’s playing with constitutional fire

Just when you thought it was safe to swim in this country’s murky constitutional waters once more, along come Prime Minister Mark Carney and his hapless Justice Minister Sean Fraser. Like undersea monsters in a horror movie sequel, they’re poised to slash at the soft, vulnerable underbelly that holds this country together: the notwithstanding clause.

Fraser indicated he wants limits on provincial use of Section 33 of the Constitution. The clause was a political escape hatch that put an end to interminable legal wrangling and, in 1982, finally found the common ground needed for the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Before that compromise, provinces worried the Charter gave too much power to the judiciary. The notwithstanding clause was the balance the provinces sought. It al