Canada

The author tries hard to excuse Peter Lougheed but the fact is that it was his idea to begin with. If he thought it should require a two thirds majority then he should have fought to have that written into the Constitution. Opinions are irrelevant. The fact is that the Notwithstanding Clause exists because the premiers wanted politicians to be the ultimate arbiters of what rights and freedoms should be and not the courts. It is doing exactly what it was intended to do. I know of no other country that has a Constitution and gives politicians the ability to ignore it. I am tired of being told it's up to voters to correct this sort of thing. No, it isn't, for several reasons. Even if we vote down a government that abuses the Notwithstanding Clause, it will still be there and there is absolutely no guarantee it won't be abused in the future. The Notwithstanding Clause has to be eliminated by a constitutional amendment, permanently. And that is the politicians' responsibility, not the voters'.