From: mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere   
      
   Nick Odell  writes:   
      
   > Hi! Forgive me, a noisy Brit, just barging in here unannounced and   
   > please redirect me to a more appropriate place if this isn't the right   
   > forum for my question.   
   >   
   > What is the "notwithstanding clause" in Canadian law? I see it being   
   > invoked in Alberta and in Quebec for what appear to me to be   
   > completely different reasons but I'm not really clear about what   
   > exactly is being invoked and why.   
      
   Hi Nick.  Fancy find you here!   
      
   > Could somebody please point me to an explanation - preferably   
   > something written for a six-year-old. I feel a lot like a six-year-old   
   > these days.   
      
   The six-year-old's summary is that Parliament or provincial   
   legislatures can pass laws that contravene some provisions of the   
   Charter of Rights & Freedoms (part of the Constitution Act, 1982) if   
   they explicitly assert that they are intentionally doing so, such   
   provisions of the Charter notwithstanding.   
      
   More detail, unsuitable for six-year-olds, is here.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_33_of_the_Canadian_Charter   
   of_Rights_and_Freedoms   
      
   Nice to hear from you, even in this venue chiefly populated by   
   crackpots.  Don't recall seeing you on uk.r.s recently.   
      
   > I'm not trying to get into the particular issues of Alberta or Quebec   
   > - just to understand generally how this sleight-of-hand trick works.   
   > It is a sleight-of-hand trick, isn't it? Or have I got that wrong too?   
      
      
   --   
   Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)