Government of Ontario Bill 5 “The Better Local Goverment Act” was overturned by a Superior Court of Ontario judge as it infringed on Charter rights and was deemed unconstitutional.

Doug Ford has announced plans to use Section 33, the so-called ‘notwithstanding’ clause to suspend Charter rights and force  the legislation into law.

We the undersigned believe this move to be extraordinary, an abuse of power, and sets a precident of undermining our democracy for political gain.

We call upon Her Honour the honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell OC OONT that should the notwithstanding clause be used to place replacement legislation to Bill 5 (Update: This has been introduced as Bill 31) into law without first following the appropriate appellate process, that it not receive Royal Assent for the reasons stated above.