Top court to hear election gag law appeal

Last Updated: Thursday, December 15, 2005 | 1:19 PM ET

CBC News

A B.C. man convicted of violating Canada's Elections Act by posting election results on the internet before all polls were closed will be allowed to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Supreme Court announced on Thursday it would hear arguments from Paul Bryan, who deliberately broke the election gag law during the 2000 federal election.

Bryan posted results from Atlantic Canada on his website before polls closed in British Columbia. He was convicted in provincial court and fined $1,000.

The conviction was overturned in 2003 by the B.C. Supreme Court, which struck down the gag law section of the act.

That allowed media companies in the 2004 election to tell voters in Western Canada what the results were elsewhere while polling stations in B.C. were still collecting ballots.

In May of this year, the B.C. Court of Appeal reversed the lower court's decision, upholding Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act. The section was written in 1938.

In a 2-1 decision, the court said the section promoted fairness and ensured that all voters receive equal treatment on election day.

In dissenting from the decision, Justice Mary Saunders said the section's limits on freedom of expression aren't reasonable because of the way technology such as satellite television and the internet has changed the way people gather information.

The publication ban on transmission of results before polls close is in effect for the Jan. 23 election.