Inquiry: Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

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The second legal initiative proposed has been:

Were the rights of David Emerson’s constituents violated under Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Section 3 of the Charter reads in English and French as follows:
 

Democratic rights of citizens

3. Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

Droits démocratiques des citoyens

3. Tout citoyen canadien a le droit de vote et est éligible aux élections législatives fédérales ou provinciales.

The relevance of Section 3 to David Emerson’s switch has been raised by Vancouver lawyer Peter Dimitrov in a series of articles:

• Is There a Legal Case Against David Emerson? (Peter Dimitrov, ViveLeCanada.ca, 14 February 2006)
• Is There a Legal Case Against David Emerson? – Part Two (Peter Dimitrov, BCPolitics.ca, 20 February 2006)
• Suit against Emerson Explored. Emerson: ‘Crossing’ the Constitution? Lawyer says floor crossing violates rights of citizens (Marco Procaccini, The Tyee, 23 February 2006)
• Emerson’s defection raises legal issues (Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, 9 March 2006)