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“It’s way overreach with the courts. Again, Parliament — federal Parliament, provincial Parliament — they’re supreme because the people are supreme, not judges ruling on stuff that shouldn’t even be in front of the courts,” he said Thursday in Vaughan.

“I’ve got an idea, why doesn’t the minister actually go forward and start focusing on bail reform? Why doesn’t he start focusing on mandatory sentencing? What doesn’t he focus on the young offenders act,” thundered Ford.

“He messed up the immigration, he’s messed up housing. Now they put him in as attorney general?” he said, referring to Fraser’s previous ministerial portfolios.

The pointed comments came despite Ford being politically allied with Prime Minister Mark Carney on many major issues.

“This is the worst decision Prime Minister Carney has ever done and it will be an absolute disaster,” the premier added.

“And I don’t believe it’s going to go through. It just takes Quebec and Ontario to block it. You need two-thirds of the premiers and 50 per cent of the population. So why is he wasting his time? He should get back to work and focus on what things, what areas that really, really matter.”

Last Thursday, Fraser announced he had “filed a factum with the Supreme Court of Canada outlining Canada’s position on constitutional issues raised by the use of the notwithstanding clause.”

“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a pillar of our democracy and a reflection of our shared values. It guarantees fundamental freedoms, including freedom of thought, belief, expression, religion and association,” the federal minister said.

“This case is about more than the immediate issues before the court. The Supreme Court’s decision will shape how both federal and provincial governments may use the notwithstanding clause for years to come,” he said.

“As the court considers this case, Canadians can count on the government of Canada to defend their Constitution, respect their rights and freedoms, and to stand up for the Charter that protects them.”

While Ford has twice invoked Section 33 of the Constitution’s Charter of Rights to temporarily overrule judicial decisions — in 2021 to limit pre-election spending by unions and in 2022 to impose a labour settlement on education workers, though he later retreated on that — Quebec governments have been using the controversial notwithstanding clause for decades.

Fraser’s filed to the Supreme Court was related to Quebec’s Bill 21 secularism law, which prohibits public servants — including nurses, doctors, teachers and judges — from wearing religious symbols on the job.