The Conservative Leader has just formally stated what he had previously broadly implied: that if his Conservatives are elected he will use the notwithstanding clause – for the first time at the federal level – to revive crime legislation, passed by the previous Conservative government but ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The example at hand is a bill that would subject multiple murderers to consecutive, rather than coincident life sentences, meaning they could be sentenced, absurdly, to terms of 150 years or more. But it’s clear that this bill would only be the start. Mr. Poilievre shares the aim of his provincial confreres: to legitimize the notwithstanding clause by repeated use, and so to neutralize the Charter as a constraint on government.

Imagine Millhouse having unfettered power to enact laws and strip Canada of its fundamental rights and freedoms.

If that happens we might as well become the 51st state.