Canada has the Charter of Rights and freedoms that spell out the rights of citizens, much like the US constitution. However, it has a fatal flaw. The federal or a provincial government may enact a law that violates the charter. All they need do is invoke the notwithstanding clause, and renew the law every five years. In theory, they could do any bigoted thing they pleased: put a tax the French language, ban Muslims from employment, put gays in concentration camps… To fight the bigots who devised this loophole, we should gradually phase it out by requiring a super majority of 60% then 80% then consensus then discarding it altogether. To violate the charter would require changing the charter.
~ Roedy (born: 1948-02-04 age: 64)