Ontario Third Party Advertising Provisions Held To Be Unconstitutional

The ability to openly and freely debate political issues is the lifeblood of democracy. There is significant value in people being engaged in issues and voicing their positions to others, including government. However, in the past 20 years concern has been expressed by political scholars that the rich and powerful can unduly influence elections by advertising their opinions to others and persuading people to either vote for candidates or parties who support their views or against candidates or parties who oppose their views. While the concerns are understandable and legitimate from the perspective that elections should be fought on a level and even financial playing field for all candidates and parties, restricting third parties from advertising their opinions on issues either before or during an election period can have a chilling effect on the rights of freedom of speech and cause harm to our democracy.