In a landmark 2015 decision, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled by a margin of 5-2 that the right to strike is constitutionally guaranteed by the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That decision was rightly recognized as a historic victory for the labor movement. Unfortunately, the rights protected by Canada’s constitution often come with a glaring asterisk attached in the form of something called the “notwithstanding clause” — a provision in the charter that empowers provincial legislatures to override certain portions for five years if they dislike rulings made by the courts. Effectively, this means that some basic rights can be frozen if a provincial government is sufficiently contemptuous of them.

Prior to the election of Doug Ford’s Conservatives in 2018, no Ontario government had ever invoked the notwithstanding clause. For the past several years, however, Ford and his cabinet have wielded it several times as a blunt instrument in pursuit of their agenda (either by using it or threatening its use). Earlier this week, Ford’s government made clear its intention to set another sinister precedent: namely, invocation of the notwithstanding clause to impose a contract on tens of thousands of education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

In bargaining with the government, the union’s demands have been both straightforward and reasonable. Its fifty-five-thousand-strong membership — which includes librarians, custodians, and other school staff — earns an average of only CAD $39,000 a year, and is asking for a salary increase of just over 11 percent. Faced with this demand, Ford’s government has responded by offering meager 2 percent raises paired with cuts to sick pay. With inflation running around 7 percent and food prices soaring, it’s less an offer than a slap in the face and the union has been eminently justified in rejecting it.