Stockwoods lawyers Brendan van Niejenhuis and Justin Safayeni represented the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association as an intervener in two important constitutional law cases involving the voting rights protected under s. 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Before the Court of Appeal in Frank v Canada, 2015 ONCA 536, the BCCLA argued that the Canada Elections Act’s prohibition on voting for certain non-resident Canadian was not a reasonable limit on the right to vote. Although a majority of the Court of Appeal upheld the impugned legislation as constitutional, Justice Laskin, writing in dissent, agreed with the BCCLA’s position that the government had failed to identify a pressing and substantial objective for the prohibition and that the law must be struck down on this basis (among others). You can read the Court of Appeal’s reasons for decision here.
Before the Superior Court of Justice in Council of Canadians et al. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 ONSC 4601, the BCCLA supported the moving parties’ request for an interlocutory injunction to suspend a recently enacted provision of the Fair Elections Act prohibiting the use of Voter Identification Cards to establish a voter’s identification. The BCCLA argued that the balance of convenience favoured granting an interlocutory injunction given the fundamental importance of the right to vote and the significant irreparable harm that flows from the unjustified restriction of that right. The motion was denied, but the BCCLA remains involved as an intervener at the application stage when there will be a full hearing on the merits. You can read the Court’s reasons for decision here.
