SaskatchewanThe private member’s bill would require the government to seek the Court of Appeal’s opinion on whether legislation violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Opposition wants any legislation invoking the notwithstanding clause referred to the Court of AppealAlexander Quon · CBC News · Posted: Dec 04, 2025 6:35 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Saskatchewan NDP House Leader Nicole Sarauer speaks at a news conference on Dec. 4, 2025. Sarauer was joined by Jacqueline Roy, the NDP human rights critic, and CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson as the NDP announced a private members bill meant that would refer any use of the notwithstanding clause to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal for a legal opinion. (Alexander Quon/CBC News)Saskatchewan’s justice minister is rejecting the latest legislative proposal from the NDP Opposition, one that the NDP says is a necessary check on government power. On Thursday, the NDP introduced Bill 611, the Constitutional Questions (Notwithstanding Clause Referral) Amendment Act. If passed, the private member’s bill would refer any piece of future legislation that invokes the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the provincial Court of Appeal. The court would be asked to offer its opinion on whether the law violates sections of the Charter. “This bill would apply to any use of the notwithstanding clause. Our focus is on the most immediate threats that have been seen lately in Canada, which is what [Alberta Premier] Danielle Smith did in Alberta,” said NDP house leader Nicole Sarauer. Sarauer was referring to the Alberta government’s decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause to override teachers’ rights and shut down a provincewide strike. The Alberta government has said it averted the use of arbitration, which could have put the province at risk of paying out hundreds of millions of dollars. Sarauer said the NDP wants to help workers in Saskatchewan avoid the same fate as teachers in Alberta. Canadian Union of Public Employees Saskatchewan president Kent Peterson was at the legislature for the bill’s introduction. Sask. health-care unions frustrated with province over contract talksUnions representing health-care workers in Saskatchewan rallied in front of the legislature Wednesday, saying they’re frustrated by what they see as the provincial government’s unwillingness to sign a new contract and address staffing levels and patient overcrowding in hospitals.He said CUPE represents 14,000 health-care workers who haven’t had a contract in over three and a half years and their rights should be protected. “The concern with us is that those rights get overwritten by the use of the notwithstanding clause, which means the government not only imposes a contract but also sets the wage rates,” Peterson said. “We know that when they’re using the notwithstanding clause to impose wages, they’re not giving workers a raise.” Minister rejects legislationJustice Minister Tim McLeod has said the government will not support the bill. “It’s our view that the notwithstanding clause is there as a right of the people of Saskatchewan to be considered democratically, not judicially,” McLeod said on Thursday. Since the Sask. Party government has a majority in the legislature, the private member’s bill has no chance to pass if all government MLAs vote against it.ABOUT THE AUTHORAlexander Quon is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC Saskatchewan. He has been a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan since 2021 and is happy to be working in his hometown of Regina after half a decade in Atlantic Canada. He has previously worked with the CBC News investigative unit in Nova Scotia and Global News in Halifax. Alexander specializes in freedom of information requests and data reporting. He can be reached at: alexander.quon@cbc.ca. FacebookTwitter
Sask. government rejects NDP legislation reviewing future use of notwithstanding clause
