Why Quebec’s proposed constitution has legal experts, civil rights groups sounding the alarm
CBC
Quebec Premier François Legault took many by surprise when, last month, his government introduced a proposed constitution for the province without consulting the population first.
The constitution, he said, would protect the common values of the province, including the French language, secularism, the right to an abortion and equality between men and women.
In the weeks since, the legislation has been the subject of growing consternation among legal experts and civil liberties groups, who warn it would centralize power, weaken judicial oversight and infringe on individual freedoms.
“We have a government that wants to enshrine the so-called Quebec values at the expense of rights and freedom of all Quebecers, but especially the minorities,” said Laurence Guénette, a co-ordinator with the Ligue des droits et libertés, a Quebec human rights group.
“The word ‘constitution’ itself is very appealing to many people in Quebec, but in reality the bill just weakens the Quebec Charter of Human Rights.”
The legislation — Bill 1 — includes more than just the draft constitution. It modifies more than a dozen laws, including the Quebec Charter, to better balance the “collective rights of the Quebec nation” with individual rights, according to the bill’s preamble.
It also seeks to defend Quebec's use of the notwithstanding clause "without any requirement to contextualize or justify the provision."
And it would prohibit publicly funded organizations from using those funds to pay for court challenges of laws that protect "the fundamental characteristics of Quebec."
The English Montreal School Board, which receives public funds, challenged the province’s secularism law, known as Bill 21, which bans public employees in positions of authority, including teachers, from wearing religious symbols. That challenge has made its way to the Supreme Court.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of TALQ, an anglophone rights group, said the legislation would hurt the ability of English-language institutions to protect themselves.
"The core constitutional principles, including the rule of law, responsible government and democratic governance — that must be maintained, and hopefully strengthened, not weakened with a bill like this,” Martin-Laforge said.
Faced with criticism over the legislation, the Quebec government committed to a round of consultations, but legal experts say that won’t be sufficient.
“It must be very open and public and inclusive,” said Karine Millaire, a professor of constitutional law at l’Université de Montréal.
"We're talking about a constitution, not something that we should talk about in secret.”
As his flight departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport en route to Kuwait via Istanbul, Canadian crypto fugitive Andean Medjedovic was unaware that his globe-trotting lifestyle would soon be halted.
One of the largest taxi companies in Toronto will be down to three wheelchair-accessible cabs by the end of March, as advocates and providers say the city is failing to support accessible taxi drivers.
As a deep freeze continues to envelop southwestern Ontario at the same time municipalities deal with a pressing shortage of road salt, there's a renewed focus on finding different ways to melt road ice.
Dave Lawson is a proud Canadian who has bumper stickers that say "Canada is not for sale." He's fed up with grocery products plastered with maple leaves and patriotic logos that turn out to be American imports.
The Town of Badger has issued an evacuation order for some residents as water levels on the Exploits River continue to rise.
The head of a national seniors' advocacy organization says protecting nursing home residents from sexual abuse is an important but challenging issue.
New data shows Winnipeg's fire-paramedic service fielded hundreds of reports involving the city's homeless population, but one advocate says she expects that number to go down in light of the city's limits on where encampments can be.
Former students of the Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the federal government.
Missing baby presumed dead after father charged with killing mother in St. Albert, Alta., police say
A man is facing charges in the death of a young mother in the Edmonton area and the presumed death of their missing nine-month-old daughter.
A school trustee in Prince George, B.C., says she's shaken and scared after being surrounded by police with their guns drawn and then put in handcuffs, in what RCMP say was a case of mistaken identity.
Despite an eleventh hour attempt to secure at least a few more weeks of freedom, a Calgary dentist was handed a three-year prison sentence for a decade-long insurance billing fraud.
Canada Computers & Electronics says a data breach has leaked information about some of its customers, though several say they are unhappy with the scant details the retailer has provided — including how many of them were affected, and when the breach occurred.
The city of Toronto is shutting down a yacht club on the Humber River in Etobicoke that is accused of having negative impacts on the local ecosystem.