Section 93(4) of that Act gives the federal Parliament the power to intervene if a provincial government fails to respect certain rights.
A lower court had found federal legislation compelling the observance of the Christian Sabbath to be not only a breach of section 2 of the Charter (freedom of religion), but also outside Parliament's criminal law authority under the division of powers, despite earlier findings that morality could guide the definition of criminal law.
As the lower court argued, the circumstances and values of the day no longer supported the view that Christianity can guide what constitutes valid criminal law.
The Court of Appeal argued that the finding that new circumstances and values limited the scope of criminal law constituted "a redistribution of legislative powers in Canada" that section 31 guards against.
In 2001, the Federal Court decided against claims that section 30 of the Charter should mean territories should be treated generally like provinces.