As Poilievre floats notwithstanding clause for bail reform, Virani critical

Justice Minister Arif Virani is coming out against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for suggesting he would use the notwithstanding clause for the first time at the federal level to get around court decisions on bail.

Poilievre also said in that speech that he wants to bring in more consecutive instead of concurrent sentences — stacking sentences on top of each other rather than serving them at the same time — which are controversial and not commonly used in Canada.

“I think Pierre Poilievre demonstrated very clearly to the Canadian public what his true intentions are with respect to the notwithstanding clause and how easily he would use it,” Virani said Tuesday morning.

“He is effectively quite willing to follow the lead of many premiers in this country who have decided to use or threaten to use the notwithstanding clause.”

The notwithstanding clause is a provision in Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 33, that allows the federal or provincial governments to override court rulings and enact legislation notwithstanding the provisions of the constitution.

On his way into question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed Virani’s criticism.

“Pierre Poilievre just proposed to override the fundamental freedoms and protections of Canadians. Override the charter that is there to protect women, minorities, to 2SLGBTQ+ communities. That’s not right, and it’s not responsible,” Trudeau said.

It allows legislation that would violate certain sections of the Charter, including legal rights and equality rights, to be effectively overridden for a period of no more than five years, before the invocation of the clause sunsets.

The notwithstanding clause cannot be used to override the right to vote, language rights, mobility rights