The devolution of federal powers to the provinces will take Harper into a constitutional swamp.
Martin promised to remove the not withstanding clause. If Harper allows the NWC to be used willy nilly he will lose his power as a national leader.
Suddenly every mouth breathing provincial party will be able to thumb their noses at parliament. Do you want some hick provincial party dictating foreign policy?
Harper doesn't need to use it. All that's necessary is to hand over responsibilities and resources to the provinces to use as they see fit. That's the meaning to "open federalism." The idea is instead of Ottawa running people's lives, let provinces and the people who live in them decide what's best. Its a revolutionary concept in statist Canada and offers great promise. And no, the Constitution Act doesn't need to be amended to make it happen.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")