Ontario NDP MP Matthew Green wrote to Speaker Anthony Rota on Wednesday, notifying him that he plans to go to the House floor later today to formally request the special late-night session to discuss “the Ontario government’s use of the derogation clause for circumventing the Charter-protected right to collective bargaining”. “This latest use of the notwithstanding clause by a provincial government is another step in a troubling trend that has seen the provincial government increasingly willing to override the constitutional rights of its citizens,” Green wrote in his letter . “There is a clear interest in this parliament to discuss the violation of constitutional rights and the implications it will have for everyone in Ontario and across the country.” Members of provincial parliament are voting today on a series of motions aimed at fast-tracking the “Keep Students in Schools Act,” which uses the null clause to override the union’s statutory right to strike. While the provincial government aims to see the bill passed this week, negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) continue. It is not certain whether Rota will agree that the matter meets the threshold for an urgent debate in the House, although if the request is granted, it is expected that the debate will take place on Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, Premier Justin Trudeau said the Ontario government was wrong to use the clause anyway. On his way to a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday, Justice Minister David Lametty said the “pre-emptive use of the no-holds-barred clause is very serious and – even undemocratic”. With files from CTV Toronto’s Katherine DeClerq
