> I don't know anything about the Canadian constitution, but I would find it surprising if this passed judicial review,

The thing with the Canadian Constitution (specifically the Charter) is that this behaviour is specifically allowed. There is a provision in the Charter, called the Notwithstanding Clause, that allows provinces to "temporarily" go against some Charter rights. The clause was added specifically to placate the provinces, who wouldn't have accepted it otherwise [1].

---

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_33_of_the_Canadian_Cha...