‘We want the Notwithstanding Clause to be properly defined,’ says Task Force president Andrew Caddell
The Task Force on Linguistic Policy, one of several interest groups challenging Quebec’s Bill 21, has received word they will be permitted to intervene in the Supreme Court of Canada in the Bill 21 case involving the English Montreal School Board and the Quebec government.
Along with many other interveners, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Quebec Community Groups Network and the attorneys general of six Canadian provinces, the Task Force will be present at the Supreme Court hearing on Bill 21, at a date yet to be determined.
Define Notwithstanding
“The reason that we’re doing this is we want the Notwithstanding Clause to be properly defined,” Task Force president Andrew Caddell said in an interview with The Laval News.
“From our point of view, the Nothwithstanding Clause doesn’t really change the existence of rights. Rights exist in nature and everybody has rights. Because if they don’t exist, then there’s no point in having a Charter of Rights.”
The Task Force on Linguistic Policy was founded in 2021 two years after Bill 21 was passed. It represents thousands of members and depends on volunteers for its operations and public donations for its court challenges.
Since its creation, the Task Force has organized public meetings and rallies, been active in news media across Canada, and continues its legal challenge of Bill 96 (the CAQ government’s update of the Charter of the French Language), as well as the Notwithstanding Clause.
Impact on Muslims
Bill 21 (‘An act respecting the laicity of the State’) was passed in 2019 by Premier François Legault’s CAQ government. It most notably prohibited the wearing of religious symbols by public employees in positions of authority, with a particularly visible impact on Muslim women wearing head and facial coverings.
While Bill 21 was generally upheld in 2021 by the Superior Court of Quebec, the law was deemed to be violating freedom of expression and of religion, although the Quebec government got around this by invoking the Canadian constitution’s Notwithstanding Clause.
The Task Force says it will be an intervener because this case affects its challenge to Bill 96, which was submitted to Quebec Superior Court on May 31, 2023. Its case focuses on the existence of rights prior to the drafting of the Charter of Rights in 1982.
An important legal moment
“This will be one of the most important, if not the most important, cases before the Supreme Court,” says Task Force lawyer Michael Bergman. “This case will determine the definition, scope and application of the Notwithstanding Clause.”
In May, the Task Force applied to intervene at the Supreme Court. The purpose of the intervention is to focus on the use of Section 33, the Notwithstanding Clause of the Canadian Constitution. The clause nullifies key sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms dealing with legal rights, equality rights, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
‘Rights are rights are rights’
“Our case will challenge Section 33 in a way other interveners will not,” maintains Caddell. “We argue that rights are rights are rights, and were not nullified with the introduction of the Charter of Rights in 1982. The Charter codifies rights, but we insist it cannot take them away.”
Bergman pointed out that if the Notwithstanding Clause can arbitrarily cancel fundamental rights, “then what remains of the Charter is a mere skeleton,” he said.
“The Task Force is concerned the Supreme Court will allow Section 33 to run roughshod over those rights,” added Caddell. “Hence, we must be present in the Bill 21 case.”
