Madam Speaker, as I said, section 33, the notwithstanding clause, may not be used to override section 3 of the charter, which guarantees the right to vote. This would require an amendment to the Charter and such an amendment can only be made with a resolution of the House and the Senate, as well as resolutions from the legislative assemblies of seven provinces representing 50% of the population.
I simply wanted to provide the context for my response. As for his specific question, I am a lawyer by training; I am not an expert in constitutional law, despite having studied it in law school. However, I can say as a Canadian citizen who is very proud of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that I hope that our federal government and this House will never be called upon to enact legislation invoking the notwithstanding clause.
I hope that we will never get to that stage. I believe that with the intelligence of members of our society, with the creativity to be found here on both sides of the House and in the Senate, among the executive and our judiciary, we will never be in that situation. I believe that we will have the ability to reach a consensus that will respect the Charter and our Constitution, without the need to invoke the notwithstanding clause.
I know there are some provincial legislatures that have invoked it. Personally, I deplored this. According to our Constitution, when the notwithstanding clause is invoked, it is valid for only five years.
That means the issue will come back every five years. Parliament will be called upon to debate and decide whether it agrees to invoke the clause again. This would mean that the issue would never be resolved for the public and for the people who are directly affected by the issue and by the right with respect to which the notwithstanding clause was invoked.
I find it quite surprising that a member of the Canadian Alliance asked this question.
I said I was surprised, but in fact I am not surprised: At its last convention, the Alliance Party debated a policy resolution calling for the repeal of the Charter of Rights. Even the watered down version that it finally passed reflects, in my view, an appalling disregard for individual liberties and personal freedom. It also in my view reflects an appalling disregard for a society founded on the rule of law, on a constitutional democracy, on the separation of powers of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. I for one would not want to live by choice in a society where we did not live, work, legislate and rule under a Constitution, under a charter that guarantees individual rights and freedoms.