Alberta Premier Danielle Smith invoked the notwithstanding clause when she ordered striking teachers back to work. You’d think that would be the end of the story, since Section 33 allows laws to operate “notwithstanding” certain rights guaranteed by the Charter.

The legal limits on Section 33 are laid out in the text: invocations must be explicit, they last for five years, they only can apply to rights guaranteed by Sections 2 and 7 through 15 of the Charter, and they cannot be retroactive. But activists have been arguing for limits on how section 33 can operate. These arguments are coming to a head in a big case headed to the Supreme Court called English Montreal School Board, et al. v. Attorney General of Quebec , and the Alberta Teachers Association has clearly been paying attention.

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