By: Lester Bueller
As the media throws up yet another hissy fit over Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce using the Notwithstanding Clause yet again I just have to say: I don’t care. Ford and Lecce can trample every single Charter right under the sun as long as it means my kids are in school and not around me.
I understand that Charter Rights are important. Some may even say quite important. And one of those rights is the right to collective action like striking. I also understand that the CUPE Union hadn’t even gone on strike yet so Ford is doing the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb before war is even declared. I get all that. But what you need to understand is: I can’t fucking stand my kids.
You think CUPE workers making only $39,000.00 a year on average, who are about to have a contract rammed down their throats that represents a pay cut when adjusted for inflation have it tough? Try getting a 5 and 8 year old to be quiet long enough so that you can finish your Microsoft Teams Meeting from your home office. Try playing Lego for 3 hours straight. Try pretending to be a dinosaur robot who has to chase them but also is frozen whenever they say freeze but then is also on fire and is also made of poop.
That my friends is real suffering.
When the Charter was created the framers knew that limits on Rights & Freedoms would need to be imposed from time to time. That’s why they put S. 33 in there in the first place. It is to be used only when absolutely necessary, like when Quebec wants to discriminate against Muslims and I want someplace to watch my kids for 6 hours a day.
I believe it was Pierre Trudeau himself who said ‘Fuck Them Kids’. At least I think that was it – my french is a bit rusty.
So while I hope both sides are able to reach a compromise and move forward more equitably, I believe Ford and Lecce have done the right thing by forcing the workers to work and the schools to stay open. And I am confident that the magical clause in our Constitution that makes all our rights go bye bye will never be used in a way that harms me personally. Because that would be bad.
