Citizens’ votes should not be unduly diluted. Today, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed its intervention factum at the Quebec Superior Court in the case of Lalande v Attorney General of Quebec to defend the right to effective representation.
A coalition of citizens is challenging Quebec’s new legislation halting the Commission on Electoral Representation’s process of redrawing the province’s electoral districts. Usually, under Quebec’s Election Act, this redrawing process is required after every second election so that citizens’ votes are not unduly diluted.
The petitioners reside in districts for which the Commission’s preliminary report recommended changes before the next election. The petitioners argue that halting the Commission’s work and holding the 2026 election without a new electoral map violates their democratic rights, protected under Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Section 3 requires that electoral boundaries reflect effective representation. This concept demands (i) relative parity of voting power and (ii) consideration of other factors, such as geography, community history, community interests and minority representation.
The CCLA is intervening to highlight the structural conflict of interest—actual or apparent—in which legislators find themselves when enacting election laws. Because of the importance of democratic rights in our society and the risk of partisan self-dealing, courts must rigorously scrutinize election legislation for Charter compliance, without showing deference to the legislature.
The CCLA also submits that halting the established electoral boundaries process without proposing a new process (which would be subject to courts’ review) amounts to suspending the Charter-protected right to effective representation.
You can read CCLA’s factum here (in French).
The court is scheduled to hear the merits of this case from May 5 to May 9, 2025.
The CCLA is grateful for the excellent pro bono representation of Patrick Plante, Julien Boudreault and Filipe Costa from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in this matter.
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
For the Media
For further comments, please contact us at media@ccla.org.
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