REGINA — Opposition New Democrats could be looking into possible legislative options that could curtail the use of the notwithstanding clause by the province.
Concerns about the use of the notwithstanding clause were the topic of a letter signed by three NDP MLAs Nathaniel Teed, Nicole Sarauer and Jacqueline Roy to executive council members of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour. A copy of that letter, dated Oct. 31, was provided to SaskToday this week.
What seems to have touched off the letter from the NDP was Premier Scott Moe's comments to media last week about the use of the notwithstanding clause by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to bring an end to the Alberta teacher's strike.
"Unfortunately, I think it's required in the back-to-work legislation that is there," Moe told reporters. "And again, this is a tool that is available to duly elected governments, as put forward by at the time Premier (Allan) Blakeney, and I think agreed to and pushed for by Premier (Peter) Lougheed in the day. And it's part of the constitution to ensure that elected governments certainly are making the decisions on behalf of their residents. In this situation, I think Alberta students went out to school for some three weeks. I think everybody can agree we need to do what we can to ensure that they are in class. And unfortunately, this is the tool that needs to be utilized in this case."
The NDP correspondence noted that Premier Moe has "used the notwithstanding clause to trample the rights of people before and won't hesitate to do it again. On Friday, he told reporters that he supports Danielle Smith's use of the notwithstanding clause to take away the Charter rights of Alberta teachers."
The correspondence adds that "we must act to protect the right to collectively bargain" and also outlined the next steps.
"It's with this in mind that we inform you we are actively considering legislative options to stand up for workers and their wages. We are looking closely at Manitoba's Bill 50, The Constitutional Questions Amendment Act, which was introduced by Premier Wab Kinew earlier this month. That Act, if passed, would require any government seeking to use the notwithstanding clause to refer the matter to the court of appeal for opinion. The court would be allowed to comment on the merit of its use but wouldn't have the power to stop the government from moving forward. Premier Kinew has said this extra step would act as a safeguard to protect peoples' rights."
The letter also stated they are welcoming their input on the issue.
