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Bill 307Royal AssentToronto impact score 0.0 out of 10

Protecting Elections and Defending Democracy Act, 2021

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42nd Parliament, 1st session (2018–21) · Sponsored by Doug Downey · Introduced June 10, 2021

Sponsor

Hon. Doug DowneyProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario · Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte

Their connections to Ford government scandals

Related Scandals

Ford Government's Use of the Notwithstanding ClauseDoug Ford's government has invoked or threatened the notwithstanding clause three times — more than any Ontario premier in history. In 2018, Ford threatened to override a court ruling that his mid-election Toronto council cuts were unconstitutional. In 2021, he pre-emptively buried an election advertising law inside Section 33 to shield it from Charter challenge. In 2022, he used the clause against 55,000 education workers before a single strike vote was held — the first time any Canadian government had invoked Section 33 against labour rights. Workers struck anyway. Ford backed down in four days. The clause is meant to be a mechanism of last resort for democratically exceptional circumstances. Ford has treated it as a first-response tool for policy he expects courts to reject.
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