Comment by freediddy
7 hours ago
No. The Emergencies act/War Measures act allows the government to override whatever rights they want. And it's been used twice in history to do exactly that.
What it's supposed to be for is in direct contrast to what it was used for, which is to suspect rights. And that's exactly what was determined later on by the courts that they did infringe on the rights of Canadians.
It really doesn't allow _any_ rights to be overridden. It's rather clear in its scope,[0] and while it's true that our justice system has taken the Government to task when it has exceeded the scope[1] it's not as though this is a regular occurrence or that those harmed by the excess are without legal recourse.
0: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-4.5/page-1.html
1: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/trans/bm-mb/other-autre/emerge...
How was Trudeau held accountable besides a small slap on the wrist? And regardless the Notwithstanding clause is more than enough to extinguish anything in the CoR.
This gets at the concept of accountability for those at the top of government. This is an issue in all governments, not just in Canada. A good parallel would be the United States. The list of actions the current administration has taken which have been determined illegal is astounding, yet no one is held accountable in a way that would deter future breaches of the law.
Trudeau became so desperately unpopular that he was compelled to step down.
As for legal responsibility and repercussions, that's a process that is still in motion. The law moves slowly in Canada.