Canada’s constitution is being trampled by populists

who nod off at the mention of Canada’s constitution, the obscure-sounding “notwithstanding clause” will surely induce lethargy. But populists are increasingly of this apparently innocuous article in the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canadians should wake up and scrap the clause entirely.Canada gained full control of its constitution as recently as 1982, in the era of boxy shoulder pads and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, as part of its “patriation” from Britain. The charter is central to it, as it codifies the rights that Canadians are entitled to. Pierre Trudeau, then the prime minister, reluctantly inserted the notwithstanding clause—otherwise known as Section 33—at the behest of the western provinces, because their premiers feared that their autonomy would be eroded by the augmented powers of the courts under the charter.