{"id":25888,"date":"2025-08-13T11:51:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T15:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?post_type=news&#038;p=25888"},"modified":"2025-08-13T11:51:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T15:51:42","slug":"court-dismisses-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/court-dismisses-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Court dismisses legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Toronto, August 13, 2025 \u2013 <\/strong>On Monday, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Canada\u2019s first past the post electoral system.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fair Voting BC and Springtide Collective for Democracy Society had challenged provisions of the <em>Canada Elections Act <\/em>setting out Canada\u2019s \u201cfirst past the post\u201d electoral system, arguing that they violate section 3 (voting rights) and section 15 (equality rights) of the <em>Charter<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organizations argued that the first past the post system does not provide effective representation or meaningful participation for Canadian voters. They also contended 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>LEAF intervened to argue 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;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In dismissing the equality rights claim, the Court held that the expert evidence did not establish that first past the post systems create or contribute to a disproportionate impact on women or racialized people in a discriminatory manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are disappointed that the Court did not engage more meaningfully with the realities of political participation for women in Canada,\u201d says Kat Owens, Interim Legal Director at LEAF.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Court also took issue with the lower court judge\u2019s acceptance that the percentage of women in Canada\u2019s Parliament, which is 30%, was \u201ctoo low\u201d but a result of \u201csociety\u2019s systemic sexism\u201d rather than the first past the post system. The Court characterized these findings as \u201chighly contestable political judgments, not matters of constitutional rights governed by the <em>Charter<\/em>.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMaking equality rights real demands that courts appreciate the effects of systemic discrimination \u2013 including systemic sexism and systemic racism \u2013 and how it interacts with the challenged law,\u201d says Owens. \u201cFar from being outside the purview of courts, this analysis lies at the heart of equality rights cases.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF is grateful to have been represented <em>pro bono <\/em>by Tina Lie and Mariam Moktar (Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP) in this case.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-30-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For media inquiries, please contact <a href=\"mailto:media@leaf.ca\">media@leaf.ca<\/a>.\u00a0<\/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":true},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25888","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Court dismisses 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\/court-dismisses-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=\"Court dismisses legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\u00a0 - LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toronto, August 13, 2025 \u2013 On Monday, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Canada\u2019s first past the post electoral system.\u00a0 Fair Voting BC and Springtide Collective for Democracy Society had challenged provisions of the Canada Elections Act setting out Canada\u2019s \u201cfirst past the post\u201d electoral system, arguing that they violate section [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/court-dismisses-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-13T15:51:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 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\/court-dismisses-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/court-dismisses-legal-challenge-of-canadas-electoral-system\/\",\"name\":\"Court dismisses legal challenge of Canada\u2019s electoral system\u00a0 - 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