The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that a key provision of Ontario’s Election Finances Act — hurriedly passed by the Ford government prior to the 2022 election — unconstitutionally breaches the right to vote and is of no force and effect. The act imposed a spending limit on third parties (that is, everyone except for political parties) for 12 months prior to an election call, as determined by Ontario’s fixed election date law. A five-justice majority found that violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ guarantee to a right to vote and to meaningful participation in the electoral process under Section 3 of the Charter, even though similar laws are usually challenged as restrictions on freedom of speech.

That decision is critical in this case since Section 33 of the Charter, the so-called notwithstanding clause, can be used to override the guarantee of free expression but not voting rights. So even though the legislature invoked Section 33 to pass the government’s bill, the Supreme Court’s decision in Ontario v. Working Families renders it null and void.