Municipal government bound by the Charter

R. v. Vellone, 2011 ONCA 785 is a long awaited decision dealing with whether a municipal government falls within the scope of government for the purposes of Charter analysis. Although the issue would seem trite, the matter was sufficiently unclear as to require the Court of Appeal to decided. The Court held the Charter does bind municipalities:


[21]         The Supreme Court of Canada has consistently held that municipal levels of government come within the meaning of "government" in s. 32(1) of the Charter: see e.g. Ramsden v. Peterborough (City), [1993] 2 S.C.R. 1084; Montréal (City) v. 2952-1366 Québec Inc., 2005 SCC 62, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 141; and Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority v. Canadian Federation of Students – British Columbia Component, 2009 SCC 31, [2009] 2 S.C.R. 295 at paras. 18-19.