These consolidated appeals concerned the constitutionality of a federal statutory prohibition on partisan political work by public servants.
The Court held that legislation implementing a constitutional convention of public service neutrality remains ordinary legislation and is subject to Charter review.
The impugned provision infringed freedom of expression under s. 2(b), was sufficiently precise to be a limit prescribed by law, but failed the s. 1 proportionality analysis because it applied overbroadly to all public servants regardless of role or level.
The Court declined to preserve the provision through case-by-case reading down and left standing the declaration that the impugned provision was of no force or effect except as it applied to deputy heads.
