On March 7, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Ontario’s law limiting spending by third-party political advertising violates the right to vote guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.

The court concluded in its decision that, “By design, [the law] creates absolute disproportionality, or a disproportionality that is so marked on its face that it allows political parties to drown out the voices of third parties on political issues from reaching citizens during an entire year of legislative activity.”

Ontario’s Election Finances Act restricts the amount that third parties can spend on political advertising in the year before a provincial election period. Specifically, the law limits spending on third party advertising to $24,000 in any one electoral district and to $600,000 in total during the 12-month period before an election period. While it also regulates political advertising by political parties during the six-month period before an election, they are not subject to the same spending limits or time period restrictions.

The court reasoned, “When political parties face no limitations, curtailing the ability of third parties to use platforms that may be effective in reaching certain voters has the potential to overwhelm the political discourse and drown out third parties, thus interfering with citizens’ access to information letting them weigh and establish their views during an important time in the democratic cycle.”

A third party is any person or entity, other than a registered candidate, registered constituency association, or registered party, engaging in election advertising and may be a corporation, an unincorporated association, or a partnership.