P.E.I. premier says he would use notwithstanding clause to secure Lands Protection Act

Premier Rob Lantz says he will do whatever it takes to protect P.E.I.'s Lands Protection Act amid concerns about how that legislation would be affected by a proposed bill to eliminate trade barriers between provinces.

"I will never compromise our Lands Protection Act," Lantz said Wednesday in the legislature, as PC MLAs applauded loudly. 

"I would go so far as using the notwithstanding clause to protect our Lands Protection Act here on Prince Edward Island."  

Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — known as the notwithstanding clause — allows for premiers or prime ministers to override rulings on legislation that judges have determined would violate sections of the Charter for a five-year period. 

The clause can only override certain sections of the Charter — including Section 2 and sections 7 to 15, which deal with fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality rights — but can't be used to override democratic rights. 

'Critically important'

The Progressive Conservative government's proposed interprovincial trade bill, which Lantz himself introduced last Friday, would ease the flow of goods to and from other provinces that enact similar legislation. It would also make it easier for workers in some regulated professions to find employment on the Island. 

The opposition parties are concerned the legislation would supersede all other laws, including the Lands Protection Act, which limits non-residential land ownership in the province. 

Green MLA Matt MacFarlane said Wednesday that the lands act is "one of our most unique and important pieces of legislation," adding that it is up to the PC government to ensure nothing is removed from the "critically important protections on land." 

He noted that Erin McGrath-Gaudet, the province's deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs, said on the floor of the legislature Tuesday that she was only reasonably confident that the Interprovincial Trade and Mobility Act would not negatively impact land protections. 

"Islanders expect the premier to ensure, without a shadow of a doubt, that our land protection laws are going to be secure," MacFarlane said.

When asked whether he would commit to reviewing the interprovinical trade bill to guarantee that no part of it can override or weaken P.E.I.'s land protection laws, Lantz said he is committed to doing so. 

Federal free trade

Prime Minister Mark Carney said last month that he's committed to removing all federal exemptions under the Canada Free Trade Agreement by July 1. 

MacFarlane asked Lantz whether he is willing to gamble the protection of Island land to be first out of the gate when it comes to removing trade barriers between provinces. 

"I have heard the federal government — the prime minister and the trade minister — commit to removing federal exemptions from the Canada Free Trade Agreement. I have heard provincial premiers talk about removing all of their party-specific exemptions from the Canada Free Trade Agreement. You haven't heard me say that," Lantz said. 

"I will not remove the Lands Protection Act from our exemptions of the Canada Free Trade Agreement."