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VANCOUVER - A group of B.C. unions fighting an election gag law has lost a legal bid to temporarily suspend the legislation ahead of next May's provincial election.
The B.C. Supreme Court ruling means the controversial law, which limits third-party election spending in the lead-up to a provincial vote, will likely remain in effect as British Columbians head to the polls.
Under the legislation, known as Bill 42, unions and other third parties are prohibited from spending more than $150,000 in the three months before an election.
The unions - including the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the Canadian Union of Public Employees - are currently fighting a constitutional challenge of the law, arguing it infringes on their Charter rights to free speech.
Arguments in the case wrapped up earlier this month, and with a decision likely months away, the unions asked for an injunction suspending the law in the meantime.
But Supreme Court Judge Frank Cole dismissed the application, saying the unions' complaints don't outweigh the intended benefits of what is still a valid law.
Cole said that to be granted such an injunction, the unions needed to prove that the public interest was better served by suspending the law than by leaving the law in place.
However, he said the legislation's goals of electoral fairness serve a "valid public purpose" and suspending the law before the case is settled would disrupt the balance that the legislation strikes.
"To suspend the operation of only the third party election advertising restrictions would upset that balance to the detriment of the other participants in the electoral process," wrote Cole in a decision posted to the court's website Monday.
Cole cited a case involving Prime Minister Stephen Harper when he was president of the National Citizens Coalition.
In 2000, Harper challenged federal third-party spending limits and asked for a similar injunction for that year's federal election.
However, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Harper's bid, saying that it would be inappropriate to grant an injunction before a court had ruled on the validity of the law.
Doing so would effectively settle the issue before the court case was finished, the Supreme Court of Canada said in an 8-1 decision.
The B.C. government has defended its election advertising restrictions, saying allowing outside groups to spend as much as they'd like isn't fair to voters.
Attorney General Wally Oppal has said the law is intended to keep the focus on the candidates and political parties, rather than allowing third parties influence the outcome of the vote.