BC Attorney General Announces Appeal of Ruling that Struck Down Pre-Campaign Limits on Third Party Election Advertising
14 September 2009 | Election Advertising
In a statement issued today, the Attorney General of British Columbia announced that the provincial government will appeal the ruling of the British Columbia Supreme Court in British Columbia Teachers' Federation v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2009 BCSC 436 (CanLII) that held that the limits on third party election advertising during the pre-campaign period were an unjustifiable limit on the freedom of expression guaranteed by section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Regardless of the outcome at the B.C. Court of Appeal, I predict that this dispute will go to the Supreme Court of Canada. The issue of pre-campaign third party election advertising limits is of national importance, and the constitutionality of these limits needs to be determined conclusively in order to guide other jurisdictions that may be looking at enacting their own third party election advertising limits.