Hub Podcasts Is Alberta justified in using the notwithstanding clause?
Oct 29, 2025
Geoffrey Sigalet, Director of the UBC Research Group for Constitutional Law, discusses Alberta's controversial use of the notwithstanding clause to mandate teachers' return to work, weighing legal implications against historical perspectives. Daniel Zekveld, a policy analyst, raises critical concerns about the effects of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) on individuals with dementia, emphasizing the need for stronger social protections and alternatives to expansion. Together, they explore the balance of rights, healthcare, and provincial powers.
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Notwithstanding Clause As A Political Tool
- Danielle Smith invoked Section 33 to prevent courts from blocking the Back to School Act and hasten teachers back to work.
- Geoffrey Sigalet argues provinces need the notwithstanding clause to contest judicial decisions that affect complex public policy trade-offs.
Legislation Imposes Policy, Not Courts
- The Back to School Act imposes the collective agreement teachers rejected and adds hires and salary increases up to 12% by 2027.
- Sigalet says courts are ill-suited to settle budgetary trade-offs about hiring and infrastructure that legislation must resolve.
Historical Defense Of Section 33
- Sigalet links Lougheed's historical support for Section 33 to current provincial uses to resist judicial expansion of labour rights.
- He argues recent Supreme Court rulings on the constitutional right to strike make provincial use of Section 33 more defensible.