Who is behind this Charter Challenge?

A:

This project was initiated by Fair Voting BC. Fair Voting BC is a non-partisan non-profit society that works for fair voting systems for all elections held in British Columbia - including federal, provincial, and municipal elections. In the 2009 referendum on electoral reform in BC, Fair Voting BC FVBC served as the official proponent of the BC’s Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform’s recommendation that we adopt the Single Transferable Vote (BC-STV)

In May of 2017, Springtide accepted an invitation from Fair Voting BC to collaborate on this project, as project manager and overseer of funds. Springtide is a Nova Scotia-based charity dedicated to non-partisan research, teaching and public engagement about democracy and politics in Canada, and defending democratic rights and freedoms. Springtide has published two papers on electoral reform - modelling four alternative electoral systems for Canada and Nova Scotia - and conducted public engagement and education workshops on electoral reform throughout Nova Scotia. 


Like and Follow

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Key Events in the Case:

  • We're currently awaiting the appeal decision (expected in spring 2025)
  • We presented our appeal in the Court of Appeal for Ontario in November 2024
  • We submitted our appeal factum in April 2024.
  • We filed our Notice of Appeal in December 2023.
  • Justice Ed Morgan issued his ruling in November 2023 and unfortunately dismissed our application.
  • The case was heard in September 2023 in the Ontario Superior Court.
  • We received the government's affidavits in fall 2022.
  • We served the government with our affidavit and evidence package in May 2021.
  • We filed the case with the Ontario Superior Court in October 2019.

How you can help

The main way you can help is to support the case financially. We are now asking for pledges totalling $60,000 to support us appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada, if they grant us leave to appeal in mid-2025.

What to expect

At each step, we set new pledge or donation goals based on our estimate of the costs for the next stage of the process, and invite our supporters to contribute towards that goal to ensure the case can continue to move forward. We don't ask for or collect funds until we're sure we're going to take the associated step.