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Liberals are ‘hijacking’ the Charter, says Canada’s last living framer of the Constitution: Full Comment podcast

Brian Peckford, who helped write the Constitution Act, 1982, defends the notwithstanding clause

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Former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford is the one man still alive who was personally in the room with then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau when the provinces and the federal government agreed, together, to a new Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He talks to Brian Lilley about the real basis for Section 33 — the notwithstanding clause — and how it came into being. He explains why the story that the federal government is telling about the clause’s alleged misuse is false, why Ottawa’s attempts to override it are unconstitutional and why the Supreme Court has no authority to weigh in on its use, as the justices are now doing at the justice minister’s request. (Recorded April 17, 2026.)

Liberals are ‘hijacking’ the Charter, says Canada’s last living framer of the Constitution: Full Comment podcast Back to video

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