Sigalet and Mendelsohn: The Notwithstanding Clause

Runnymede Radio

Does the Notwithstanding clause turn off rights protected by the Charter? Does it preserve those rights by requiring courts to stay silent while legislatures alone interpret their bounds? Or are courts always available to provide a remedy? This episode features political science professor Geoffrey Sigalet and lawyer Eric Mendelsohn. For further reading, take a look at the following articles: Grégoire Webber, Eric Mendelsohn & Robert Leckey "The faulty received wisdom around the notwithstanding clause" (Policy Options, 2019) Maxime St-Hilaire and Xavier Foccroulle Ménard, "Nothing to Declare: A Response to Grégoire Webber, Eric Mendelsohn, Robert Leckey, and Léonid Sirota on the Effects of the Notwithstanding Clause" (Constitutional Forum, 2020) Grégoire Webber, “Notwithstanding rights, review, or remedy? On the notwithstanding clause and the operation of legislation” (University of Toronto Law Journal, 2021) Robert Leckey & Eric Mendelsohn, “The Notwithstanding Clause: Legislatures, Courts, and the Electorate” ( University of Toronto Law Journal, 2022) Geoffrey Sigalet, "The Truck and the Brakes: Understanding the Charter's Limitations and Notwithstanding Clauses Symmetrically" (Supreme Court Law Review, 2022) Grégoire Webber, “The notwithstanding clause, the operation of legislation, and judicial review” (Queen's University Legal Research Paper, 2022) Geoffrey Sigalet, “Legislated Rights as Trumps: Why the Notwithstanding Clause Overrides Judicial Review” (Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 2023)