A panel of three judges of the Court of Appeals of Ontario unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of the first -step electoral system in Canada in a ruling published on Monday.
The system, established in the Canadian Elections Law, sees the candidate who receives most votes in an electoral district or electoral district given as a member of Parliament.
The fair vote BC and the Springide collective for democratic society argued in the courts that the system violates the guarantee of the rights and freedom of an effective representation.
The groups also said that the system leads to the surrender of women and other groups in Parliament, breaching the provision of equal rights of the letter.
In a proportional representation system, the number of representatives who choose a party reflects the percentage of the total vote that the party receives.
In November 2023, the Superior Court of Ontario dismissed the challenge of fair vote BC and Springide. He said that while a proportional representation system would be a fair alternative to the current system, the Constitution does not require it.
In its decision, the Province Court of Appeal also rejected the key arguments of the groups.
“The electoral system is not in conflict with the right to vote or the right to equality. It does not violate the letter,” said Judge Grant Huscroft in written reasons on the name of another judge in the panel.
“The arguments of the appellants that the electoral system violates the letter are, in essence, a repair of failed political arguments as violations of constitutional rights.”
Limitations of litigating policies disputes
The expert evidence “presents in support” of these arguments, Huscroft wrote, is “full of highly answering political arguments on which reasonable disagreement abounds, not only in the academic community but also among the general public …
“This evidence demonstrates the deficiencies of constitutional litigation to address public policy disagreements.”
The brief response to the argument that the electoral system violates the letter is that Canadian citizens are free to vote for anyone they choose, and for any reason they choose, Huscroft added.
“There is no constitutional requirement that your individual choices are added in a way that achieves some ideal of representative diversity,” he wrote. “Neither the affiliation of the political party nor the personal characteristics of the candidates who win elections are relevant to the constitutionality of the electoral system.”
During the 2015 election campaign, the then liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised that they would be the last federal elections held under the first -step system.
Once in office, however, the Trudeau government abandoned its promise to replace the system.
