Watchdog Fails To Prove 2008 Vote Illegal: Federal Court

Democracy Watch has lost its bid to have Stephen Harper’s election call last year declared illegal and unfair.

The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that the watchdog group failed to prove its case against the prime minister, who called the vote despite his own fixed-date election law.

Justice Michel Shore says Democracy Watch gave only vague evidence as to how last September’s snap vote put opposition parties and voters at a disadvantage.

Nor did the group convince him that the fixed-date law restricts when the prime minister can ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament.

Democracy Watch argued that legal changes in 2007 should bar such visits to Rideau Hall unless the government has lost a confidence vote.

Shore was not convinced that such a “convention” had in fact been established.

He also noted that the term “vote of non-confidence” is not clearly defined in law.

Shore ruled that Democracy Watch was mixing up political fair play with evidence-based legal arguments.

He stressed that the Governor General’s ability to dissolve Parliament was unchanged by the Conservative election law.

Shore does not force Democracy Watch, a non-profit citizens’ group, to pay the government’s legal costs.

He said issues needing public explanation were raised.

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