Sask. government rejects NDP legislation reviewing future use of notwithstanding clause

Saskatchewan's justice minister is rejecting the latest legislative proposal from the NDP Opposition, one that the NDP says is a necessary check on government power.

On Thursday, the NDP introduced Bill 611, the Constitutional Questions (Notwithstanding Clause Referral) Amendment Act.

If passed, the private member's bill would refer any piece of future legislation that invokes the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the provincial Court of Appeal.

The court would be asked to offer its opinion on whether the law violates sections of the Charter.

"This bill would apply to any use of the notwithstanding clause. Our focus is on the most immediate threats that have been seen lately in Canada, which is what [Alberta Premier] Danielle Smith did in Alberta," said NDP house leader Nicole Sarauer.

Sarauer was referring to the Alberta government's decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause to override teachers' rights and shut down a provincewide strike.

The Alberta government has said it averted the use of arbitration, which could have put the province at risk of paying out hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sarauer said the NDP wants to help workers in Saskatchewan avoid the same fate as teachers in Alberta.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Saskatchewan president Kent Peterson was at the legislature for the bill's introduction.

He said CUPE represents 14,000 health-care workers who haven't had a contract in over three and a half years and their rights should be protected.

"The concern with us is that those rights get overwritten by the use of the notwithstanding clause, which means the government not only imposes a contract but also sets the wage rates," Peterson said.

"We know that when they're using the notwithstanding clause to impose wages, they're not giving workers a raise."

Justice Minister Tim McLeod has said the government will not support the bill.

"It's our view that the notwithstanding clause is there as a right of the people of Saskatchewan to be considered democratically, not judicially," McLeod said on Thursday.