Greens challenge election deposit requirement

NEWS RELEASE

GREEN PARTY OF ONTARIO

************************* Green Party of Ontario takes Election Act to court

TORONTO - May 30, 2007 - Green Party of Ontario (GPO) Leader Frank de Jong announced today at Queen's Park that his party is going to court to fight a provision of the Ontario Election Act it considers unconstitutional.

The act requires candidates in provincial elections to post a $200 deposit that is refunded only if the candidate receives at least 10 percent of the votes cast.

"The Ontario Election Act's deposit provision is supposed to ensure that only serious candidates run for office, but in reality it ensures that only people who can afford to lose $200 will run for office," de Jong said. "Making the deposit's refund conditional on receiving 10 percent of the vote penalizes less established parties and acts as a deterrent for average citizens to run for political office."

The Superior Court of Ontario ruled in 1999 that a similar provision in the Canada Elections Act was unconstitutional, on the grounds that the non-refundable deposit was "based on irrational premises as well as stereotypical notions that individuals (or parties) able to pay the ... deposit are likely to be serious and supported by the public, whereas those for whom paying a deposit would be an obstacle are not."

The federal law was amended as a result of the ruling, but the provincial government has not yet moved to change the Ontario Election Act accordingly.

Counsel for the GPO wrote to the Attorney General of Ontario in January to ask that this constitutional problem be recognized, and requesting that the Election Act be amended so that the time and expense of a legal challenge could be avoided.

The Attorney General's reply, which was not received until May 11, did not include any commitment to amend the statute.

As a result, de Jong and GPO consel Peter Rosenthal announced today that the party is filing and serving a Notice of Application to have the deposit provision of the Ontario Election Act declared unconstitutional.

"If the deposit provision is considered unconstitutional at the federal level, there is no rational justification for retaining it at the provincial level," Rosenthal said. "Since the Attorney General has taken no action to amend the Ontario Election Act accordingly, the Green Party of Ontario is standing up for the rights of all Ontario citizens by launching this court challenge."

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