Hello,

The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing challenges to Quebec’s Bill 21 that prohibits public servants from wearing religious symbols at work, which could amount to a major overhaul of the balance of power between provincial and federal governments.

Arguments were presented to the court over four days beginning this past March 23.

The gravity of the case comes down to how the notwithstanding clause is being used by provinces to pass legislation that clashes with Canadians’ rights. The notwithstanding clause—which was included as a compromise to garner agreement for Canada’s 1982 Constitution, but which made the Charter “not worth the paper it is written on” according to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney—allows provinces to pass legislation that suspends Canadians’ rights under the Constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a five year period. That five year end date is meant to allow voters an opportunity to hold politicians accountable for unpopular legislation that is forced through with the clause.

But the challenge to Bill 21 could limit how provinces wield that power. To be clear, the challenge isn’t about whether the law violates the Charter, as a prior ruling by the Quebec Superior Court already confirmed that it does. The challenge is about whether Quebec was wrong to use the clause pre-emptively to pass the Bill.

CBC reports that that the case evolves has revealed a split across the country, with some provinces—like Quebec, along with Alberta, and Ontario—opposed to courts having power to issue non-binding judgments about whether a law violates the Charter, while the federal government, Manitoba, and British Columbia say the court should have such power.

Quebec’s unique role among the country’s province’s has also played into the politics of the case, says The New York Times.

Pay attention to how this case plays out—it will be important for all Canadians.

For an overview of some of the arguments made on the case’s first day, see this article from CBC.

Stories from the PEN!

This month’s stories from the PEN include:

• In Plant-Based Food Ways, GentleWays for Our Planet’s Aida Warah discusses a recent meeting that focused on the role of food systems in advancing climate and public health goals at the municipal level.

• Ecology Ottawa’s delegation to the Council's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee February 26 meeting addresses information presented in a report on Right Turn On Red (RTOR) rules in this article.

PEN Archives

In the April 2023 PEN, William van Geest wrote for Ecology Ottawa to detail the clear-cutting of 70 hectares of trees in the Tewin suburb, located in southeast Ottawa. The landowners, the Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart Group, had cleared the forested area “under cover of night and behind a buffer of trees”—and without a permit.

Other News

• Across Canada, limited supplies are pushing food banks to limit the services they provide in order to handle rising demand as families struggle with cost of living increases, says CTV News.

• The City of Ottawa is reminding residents to check if they are among those whose waste collection day will change beginning on March 30.

• The Ontario government purchased 205 kilometers of railway between North Bay and Washago for as part of its plan to bring the Northlander passenger rail back into service, says the North Bay Nugget. The 740 km Northlander train line—which was taken out of commission in 2012 by the Liberal government—will connect 16 stops running from Toronto, through North Bay, to Timmins.

• The Ontario legislature is back in session after e two week recess, and Premier Ford doesn’t want to share his phone records, says the Canadian Press.

• A recent report shows that deaths now outweigh births in most parts of North Ontario, reports Bay Today.

• Ottawa’s Office of the Auditor General is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the city’s Fraud and Waste Hotline, reinforcing efforts to protect public resources and integrity across municipal operations. Auditor general Nathalie Gougeon told CTV News that “The whole purpose of the hotline is to obviously deter people from committing any sort of inappropriate activity or acts, but also to detect them when they are occurring.”

• The Story Sharing program—initiated by The Ottawa Queer Arts Collective (Qu’ART) and the Ottawa-based HIV support organization Bruce House—offers people who have HIV a chance to tell their story, writes The Charlatan.

• The Ontario government is seizing lands to make Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport a special economic zone under Bill 5, which “lets cabinet exempt companies or projects from having to comply with any provincial law, provincial regulation or municipal bylaw,” reports CBC. Premier Ford claims the provincial takeover of city-owned land is needed because "lefties" on city council don't want to grow the airport.

This is my last time connecting with you all as editor of the PEN Newsletter. Future editions will be published by incoming-editor Nasha Choudhury. Please continue to use the comments section of the newsletter, or email [email protected],to reach out with thoughts or questions.

—Christopher Bonasia, PEN editor

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