Canada’s top court to decide case about Ontario election advertising rules #CanadaFinance

The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its decision today about third-party election advertising rules in Ontario that limit spending.

Before 2021, third parties in Ontario could spend up to $600,000 on advertising in the six months before a provincial election call.

That year, Premier Doug Ford’s government stretched that restricted spending period to one year while keeping the spending limit the same.

The Progressive Conservative government argued the extended restriction was necessary to protect elections from outside influence, but critics said it amounted to the government trying to silence criticism ahead of the 2022 provincial election.

Teachers’ unions challenged the law, which a lower court struck down and the province responded by tabling a new bill with the controversial notwithstanding clause – but that decision was then successfully challenged on appeal.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario said the use of the notwithstanding clause was fine, but found the law to be unconstitutional because it violated free expression rights of third-party advertisers.

It said the new law violated a voter’s right to meaningful participation in the electoral process, which isn’t subject to the notwithstanding clause, and gave the government one year to create new, Charter-compliant legislation.

But Ontario’s attorney general sought an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which was granted in late 2023.

Prior to a 2017 law enacted by the Liberal government at the time, there were no limits on third-party advertising in Ontario.

In the 2014 election, third parties spent $8.64 million, which amounted to 17 per cent of all election spending.

Unions were some of the largest third-party advertisers. The Working Families Coalition, known for its anti-Tory ads, spent $2.5 million during the campaign, with contributions from some of the province’s biggest unions.

The coalition and several teachers’ unions are part of the case before the Supreme Court while there are more than a dozen interveners, including the attorneys general of Canada, Alberta and Quebec along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Chief Electoral Officer of Ontario.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press