Bruno Gélinas-Faucher had argued that the law kept Quebecers from voting in provincial elections
The Superior Court of Quebec has invalidated section 282 of the Election Act in a legal win for University of New Brunswick assistant law professor Bruno Gélinas-Faucher.
Gélinas-Faucher had sought to have the law declared unconstitutional in an application for judicial review before the court. He claimed that it prevented a subset of Quebec voters from participating in provincial elections.
Under section 282, Quebec voters who had temporarily left the province for work, study, or other personal reasons could vote by mail, but only for a two-year period. Subsequently, they would have to appear in person to vote – a process that could be long, expensive, and sometimes impossible for voters overseas.
The case went to trial on June 2-6, and the court ruled on August 14 that section 282 was invalid on the grounds that by limiting the right to vote by mail, voters who had been away for over two years were kept from a real possibility of voting in provincial elections. Per the court, this breached the guaranteed right to vote under section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The court’s decision could still be appealed, although the attorney general of Quebec had not indicated intentions thus far.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt acted as counsel for Gélinas-Faucher on a pro bono basis. The firm's team consisted of Mtre Julien Morissette (partner and lawyer), Mtre François Laurin-Pratte (counsel), Mtre Quentin Montpetit (lawyer), and Mtre Rachelle Saint-Laurent (lawyer).
Gélinas-Faucher obtained his undergraduate law degree from the University of Ottawa and completed graduate studies at the University of Cambridge. Subsequently, he clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and was also a law clerk with the International Court of Justice president.
He took up doctoral studies in international studies at the University of Cambridge before continuing his academic career in Canada.
