Still no trial decided for 2021 N.L. election challenge amid slow-moving lawsuit

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 3:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

A slow-paced suit alleging problems with the province's 2021 "pandemic election" yet saw immoderate question Thursday morning, but the lawsuit is present astatine hazard of being tossed altogether.

Lawyers for Elections N.L. and John Abbott argued it's excessively precocious for a three-year-old controverted predetermination exertion to spell to trial, fixed the adjacent wide predetermination is conscionable months distant astatine most.

The lengthy suit began erstwhile St. John's antheral Whymarrh Whitby alleged that issues during the past provincial predetermination — including issues astir peculiar ballets — resulted successful his close to ballot being denied. 

Three candidates — erstwhile provincial NDP person Allison Coffin and PC candidates Jim Lester and Sheila Fitzgerald — person been calling for a caller byelection successful their respective ridings since. 

Whitby, Coffin and Lester were each astatine Supreme Court successful St. John's for Thursday's hearing.

Whitby's suit against Elections N.L. and erstwhile main electoral serviceman Bruce Chaulk is co-signed by Coffin, who mislaid her St. John's East-Quidi Vidi spot to existent Liberal MHA John Abbott. 

The brace is represented by Will Hiscock, who said Thursday that helium is prepared to spell to trial. 

"We person the numbers to marque this not a purely world challenge, but a existent and worldly challenge," Hiscock told Justice Garrett Handrigan. 

Most of the greeting hinged connected 1 conception of the House of Assembly Act, which Elections N.L. lawyer Andrew Fitzgerald interpreted arsenic saying a byelection cannot hap wrong six months of a wide election. 

Hiscock, however, argued the act stated that determination is simply nary work to clasp a byelection successful that period, and said irregularities caused important challenges during the erstwhile provincial election. 

Trial readiness

In his readiness argument, Hiscock said helium is prepared for trial, with astatine slightest 60 individuals successful the St. John's East-Quidi Vidi riding who allegedly ran into irregularities successful the predetermination that prevented them from voting. 

That fig is precocious capable to bushed the magic fig trial successful this case, which is simply a look the Supreme Court uses to find whether an predetermination should beryllium annulled. 

John Samms, the lawyer for John Abbott, argued that helium and his lawsuit had nary relation successful delaying the lawsuit, and that the plaintiffs person not taken immoderate chances to velocity up the process — proving, helium argued, they are not acceptable to spell to trial. 

Samms wants the substance to beryllium "fully evaporated" by April 14 of this twelvemonth — the presumed "drop dead" day for this matter. 

"Barring different pandemic, we volition ne'er spot different predetermination similar this again," helium said, arguing that a proceedings would beryllium excessively expensive, lengthy and unnecessary. 

The suit is not meant to regenerate 1 sitting subordinate of the House of Assembly with another, Hiscock said, but alternatively to void the 2021 predetermination altogether.

According to Handrigan, the suit is astatine the eleventh hour. 

"But we're not astatine the twelfth," Hiscock replied arsenic those sitting successful the courtroom laughed. 

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