“Elections belong to the people and not governments!” Court of Appeal strikes down Bill 307

BY PAUL JUNOR

There has been a collective sense of relief on the part of many unions who launched a constitutional challenge to Bill 307.

Prior to Bill 307, the Ontario government passed Bill 254, the Protecting Elections Act, which was intended to change election-funding rules. There were many concerns expressed by individuals, groups, and unions about the sweeping changes that the Ford government introduced in 2020 even before Bill 254.

These changes were intended to increase levels of restrictions to the Election Finance Act in 2017. Bill 254 increased spending restrictions on political advertising except for political parties as well as extending a 12-month, pre-election period restricting third-party advertising. Working Families became the lead applicant along with the Elementary Teachers; Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF). A constitutional challenge was launched, which was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

The Ontario government then introduced Bill 307 after the Court of Appeal’s decision nullified major aspects of Bill 254, the Protecting Ontario Elections Act. In a press release on June 8^th, 2021, Patrick Dillion, Official Spokesperson for Working Family stated, “The Ford government’s overreaching legislation amounted to an assault on freedom of expression which is constitutionally protected under the law, which is constitutionally protected by the Charter. We are pleased that the Court recognizes this and struck down those restrictive provisions. Elections belong to the people and not governments or political parties. Independent voices need to be heard so that important issues can be discussed during elections and not just those chosen by politicians and corporate media interests.”

It was shocking to many: civil liberties advocates, unions, organizations, and individuals when the Ford government took the unprecedented step of using the notwithstanding clause to override Bill 307’s unconstitutional and undemocratic provisions and reintroduce Bill 254. This resulted in: ETFO, OECTA, and OSSTF/FESSO collaborating a second time along with Working Families as well as diverse parties to challenge the legislation.

On Tuesday, March 7^th, 2023, a joint press release was issued by ETFO, OECTA,OSSTF/FESSO titled, “Democracy Upheld Again in the Face of Ford’s Anti-worker Attacks, Court of Appeal Strikes Down Bill 307.” The press release states, “This ruling by the Court of Appeal for Ontario rightly finds that Bill 307 ‘unjustifiably infringes’ on the rights of Ontarians to meaningfully participate in our province’s political processes. We are pleased that the court has upheld democracy and restored the rights of all workers and citizens in Ontario.”

The press release indicates that this is the third time that three legislations, Bill 124, Bill 254, and Bill 307 have been struck down by the Court of Appeal on the basis that they attacked workers and undermined Ontario’s democratic rights. It is a concerted attempt by the Ford government to nullify opposition’s voices and silence their critics.

The press release concludes, “Our organizations urge the Ford government to accept the court’s ruling and to commit to upholding Ontarians’ democratic rights. However, rest assured that if the government decides to appeal this ruling, our organizations will continue the fight against this government’s alarming overreaches and abuses of power.”