1. To have the court rule that our current voting system contravenes the Charter

2. To have the court order the government to adopt a voting system that complies with the Charter

A "Charter Challenge" has four main steps:

1. Filing a notice of application (done in 2019)

2. Holding a first hearing (Superior Court) (heard September 2023)

3. Appealing (or defending) the first decision (Court of Appeal) (heard November 2024)

4. Appealing or defending the appeal decision in the Supreme Court of Canada (TBD)

Our work to date, and our plan going forward

The steps of the case are listed below, along with a brief description of each. The bulk of the financial contributions to the case support our direct legal costs (our lawyer is giving us a "low-bono" rate of 75% off his normal hourly rates). In the early stages of the case, we were supporting a staff member at Springtide to handle communications, donor engagement, and media relations, but since 2020 these activities have been handled by volunteers; our ongoing administrative costs are modest - mainly IT and financial transaction fees.

Retaining Counsel, and Initiating a Public Awareness Campaign - (2017-2018)

With the support of roughly 500 donors, who collectively contributed roughly $45,000, we were able to retain a lawyer, and build a public awareness and fundraising campaign for the work to follow. Nicolas Rouleau is an experienced constitutional lawyer who has fought and won cases before the Supreme Court. In the fall of 2018, he delivered a strategic plan offering his guidance on how our case could best be argued.

We prepared and filed a notice of application with Ontario Superior Court of Justice in October 2019.  

Expert Evidence for Filing (Spring 2021) 

We then prepared our main affidavits and our expert evidence package, which we served to the government in May 2021. 

Prepare for Cross Examination & Response Affidavits (Fall 2022) 

Once we received the response from the government, Nicolas conducted cross-examinations of the government's expert witnesses and prepared our experts' response affidavits.

Filing the Factum (Spring 2023) 

Once we received the government’s evidence package, we replied to it, and our lawyer drafted our factum (the written argument we provided to the courts prior to the hearing). Click here to read the full factum. 

First Hearing (September 2023)

We initially argued our case in the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto in September 2023 (3 days of hearings).

First Appeal (heard November 2024)

Unfortunately, Justice Ed Morgan dismissed our original application on Nov 30, 2023. We filed our Notice of Appeal on Dec 29, 2023, submitted our factum (written arguments) in April 2024, and presented our appeal in the Court of Appeal for Ontario in early November 2024. We are currently awaiting the court's decision (expected early 2025).

CURRENT STAGE: Preparing Application for Leave to Supreme Court - (to be submitted after receiving appeal decision, likely early 2025)

Regardless of what happens at the Court of Appeal, we anticipate that, due to the significance of this case, the losing side will apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, likely in late spring or early summer 2025. The SCC will review the application and decide whether or not to hear the case (likely notifying us in late 2025).

Final Appeal to Supreme Court - (Date TBD)

If the case is granted leave, it will be heard at the Supreme Court, and the decision of the Supreme Court will be final. If we are granted leave to appeal, we will likely submit our appeal arguments in late 2025.

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We invite you to join the over 1400 Canadians who are supporting this Charter Challenge either by pledging support for Phase 1 and/or Phase 2 of appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada or by contributing to our Operating and Future Initiatives fund.