[bawolff]

> The only thing it would take for the federal government to remove the freedom of the press is to pass a law explicitly declaring it it is being removed notwithstanding section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

IANAL and not sure how the implied bill of rights works in the modern context, but historically laws restricting the freedom of the press have been struck down even without the charter

E.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_Re_Alberta_Statutes

However, The main thing i was trying to say though was simply that the rules around the notwithstanding clause are really clear. I think the original poster was trying to say is that what is constitutional can be ambigious, but the notwithstanding clause doesn't really contribute to that as it is pretty unambigious in how it works.