Summary

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Summary

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Constitutional law – Canadian Charter – Effective representation – Right to equality – Charter of human rights and freedoms – Discrimination – Right to vote – Whether choice of voting system is political question within legislature’s exclusive jurisdiction – Whether Quebec’s Election Act infringes right to vote or right to equality under Canadian Charter and Charter of human rights and freedoms – Whether infringement justified under s. 1 of Canadian Charter – Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 3, 15 – Charter of human rights and freedoms, R.S.Q., c. C 12, ss. 10 and 22 – Election Act, R.S.Q., c. E 3.3, ss. 14, 15, 16, 17, 375, 377.

The applicants, Brian Gibb, François Soucy, Pierre Véronneau and Patrick Daoust, are members of the Association for the Advancement of Democratic Rights. They advocate reforming the first past the post voting system in favour of a voting system that, in their view, would promote the fairer representation of all political parties in the National Assembly. They are asking this Court to declare the sections of Quebec’s Election Act that impose a first past the post voting system inoperative on the ground of constitutional invalidity because, they argue, that system violates ss. 3 and 15 of the Canadian Charter and ss. 10 and 22 of the Charter of human rights and freedoms.

Lower Court Rulings