Welcome to Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! This week, lawyer Kyla Lee discusses the Canadian Elections Act and campaign donations.
Acumen Law Corporation lawyer Kyla Lee gives her take on a made-in-Canada court case each week and discusses why these cases should have been heard by Canada’s highest court: the Supreme Court of Canada.
Ms. Maheux was convicted of giving a donation that was larger than the amount that she was permissible to give to a political party. A prosecution was commenced under the Elections Act and she was ultimately convicted of the offence. In the scope of the prosecution, Ms. Maheux challenged the constitutional validity of the section she was convicted under as well as several other sections of the Elections Act arguing that they were unconstitutional and of no force and effect.
The challenges were dismissed partially because she hadn’t brought her challenges in front of a specialized tribunal designed to deal with these specific challenges.
If these are rules that govern how elections take place, we need to know if they are constitutionally valid and are not infringing on the rights of individuals.
Watch the video for more.
