Leonid Sirota: Yes, the notwithstanding clause overrides rights. No, it isn't defensible

As cases in which provincial legislators have deployed the override power of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the “notwithstanding clause” — have proliferated, so have defences of their doing so. Among the override’s most passionate defenders are lawyers and political scientists with expertise and prestige to support their arguments.

And yet, despite their authors’ credentials, these polemics often rest on a veritable notwithstanding clause mythology, blending claims that are at best half-true and those that are not at all. These are worth addressing, because wider public acceptance will further undermine the constitution’s already-fragile ability to constrain self-interested politicians.

Let us begin with an entirely false claim:

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