Basically, the government could change the act to allow the policymaking power of the minister to violate the Charter, which would protect the changes from the courts for the next five years. But Skinner says the government should ensure that the use of the notwithstanding clause is as narrow as possible to avoid future unintended consequences.
But since use of the clause would require legislative changes, it remains to be seen if the government would be able to successfully stickhandle them through the assembly. Six government MLAs have raised concerns about the revisions to the policy and voted with the opposition in June to call on the province’s child and youth advocate to conduct further consultations on the changes.
The premier is also rumoured to be considering a snap election, which would push back the timeline for legislative changes to work their way through the house to late November at the earliest.Former local government minister Daniel Allain was turfed from cabinet after voting for the opposition motion on Policy 713.