{"id":24135,"date":"2024-08-27T12:49:06","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T16:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?post_type=news&#038;p=24135"},"modified":"2024-08-27T16:17:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T20:17:12","slug":"leaf-to-intervene-in-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-in-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAF to intervene in legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Toronto, August 27, 2024 \u2013 <\/strong>Earlier this month, the Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) was granted leave to intervene at the Ontario Court of Appeal in <em>Fair Voting BC v. Canada (Attorney General)<\/em>, a case challenging the constitutionality of Canada\u2019s first past the post electoral system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Provisions in the <em>Canada Elections Act<\/em> lay the foundation for Canada\u2019s \u201cfirst past the post\u201d electoral system. Fair Voting BC and Springtide Collective for Democracy Society are challenging these provisions, alleging they violate section 3 (voting rights) and section 15 (equality rights) of the <em>Charter<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are arguing that the first past the post system does not meet the requirements for effective representation or meaningful participation guaranteed by section 3. They are also contending that this system leads to the underrepresentation of women and racialized people in Parliament, because it reduces incentives for political parties to nominate balanced slates of candidates compared to proportional representation systems.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the lower court judge accepted that the percentage of women in Canada\u2019s Parliament, which is currently 30%, is \u201ctoo low\u201d, he attributed that underrepresentation to \u201csociety\u2019s systemic sexism\u201d rather than the first past the post system.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF will be intervening to highlight the fact that when someone alleges a law \u2013 such as the law creating Canada\u2019s first past the post system \u2013 violates their <em>Charter<\/em>-protected equality rights, they should not be required to prove that this law is the <em>only <\/em>or the <em>dominant <\/em>cause of underrepresentation. Instead, equality law requires evidence that the law is merely <em>a <\/em>cause. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe underrepresentation of women in elected office is a pervasive and persistent problem,\u201d says Pam Hrick, Executive Director and General Counsel of LEAF. \u201cIn considering whether Canada\u2019s voting system violates s. 15 of the <em>Charter<\/em>, it\u2019s important for the Court to properly consider the full context of the group who is making the claim and not to make it unduly hard for them to prove that claim.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF is grateful to be represented<em> <\/em>by Tina Lie and Mariam Moktar (Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP) in this case.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF\u2019s interventions are guided, informed, and supported by a case committee with expertise in the relevant issues. We are grateful to this intervention\u2019s case committee members (in alphabetical order): Gillian Bourke and Margot Young.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For media inquiries, please contact media@leaf.ca.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)&nbsp; <\/strong>&nbsp;<br>The Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national not-for-profit and charity that works to advance the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation,\u202flaw reform,\u202fand public legal education.\u202fSince 1985, LEAF has intervened in more than 130 cases that have helped shape the\u202f<em>Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms<\/em>. To find out more, visit\u202fwww.leaf.ca.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[197],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24135","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-access-to-justice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LEAF to intervene in legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\u00a0 - LEAF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-in-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEAF to intervene in legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LEAF was granted leave to intervene at the Ontario Court of Appeal in a case challenging the constitutionality of Canada\u2019s first past the post electoral system.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-in-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-27T20:17:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/iStock-1263715290.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1252\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"837\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"LEAF to intervene in legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"LEAF was granted leave to intervene at the Ontario Court of Appeal in a case challenging the constitutionality of Canada\u2019s first past the post electoral system.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/iStock-1263715290.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-in-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-in-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\",\"name\":\"LEAF to intervene in legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\u00a0 - 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