The left should defend democracy, not Ottawa’s bid to curb the notwithstanding clause

Fuck that. When has the notwithstanding clause ever been invoked, other than to push for policies that violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

This is some bullshit. The notwithstanding clause should never have existed - what's the point of having a Charter of Rights if governments can trample all over it when they want to? Anything that can be done to keep people like Danielle Smith from hiding behind it to energy her transphobic agenda gets my support.

The people are sovereign, not parliament. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the people from government. The notwithstanding clause allows governments to ignore the Charter. And as long as the group whose rights they are trampling is sufficiently small, the likelihood of electoral consequences is likewise small.