Page: 8 [39] The Respondent submits that the Applicant has not established that the $1000 deposit had an actual impact on his ability to qualify as a candidate. [40] The Applicant bears the onus of establishing all elements of a Charter infringement, and must provide a factual foundation capable of supporting the allegations of a Charter breach: Mackay v Manitoba, [1989] 2 SCR 357 at paras 8-11, 61 DLR (4th) 385; Peter W Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, 5th ed (Toronto, Ont: Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd, 2016) at 3837 [Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada]. [41] I agree with the Respondent that not just any limit will automatically result in an infringement. The Charter guarantees meaningful, not unlimited, participation in the electoral process. Signature Requirement Provision [42] In general, I observe that government reports and court findings have found the signature requirement of the Act to be consistent with the provisions of s 3 of the Charter. [43] For example, the Lortie Report was relied upon as evidence of the analysis and goalsetting conducted by the government regarding electoral reform. It is my understanding that one of the main reasons the Lortie Report was commissioned was as a response to multiple Charter challenges to election legislation. It provides significant reasoning to support the requirement of obtaining signatures from electors, prior to obtaining certification as candidates. [44] Similarly, in de Jong at paras 33, 70-73, Perell J indicated that: [33] ...[T]hese signature requirements do not interfere and indeed are consistent with the informational component of s 3 of the Charter. .... [70] About [signatures], the Lortie Commission had the following to say at p. 87 of its Report: ... The public interest in setting conditions on candidacy is twofold. First, there is a legitimate public interest in the integrity and effectiveness [of] electoral competition. Candidates should be required to demonstrate that they are serious.... Nomination by voters, rather than self-nomination, is meant to demonstrate public support.... [71] The requirement of obtaining signatures to accompany the nominating papers may serve purposes other than being a measure of seriousness because it goes some distance in demonstrating that a candidate’s political message is one that a segment of the electorate wishes to have expressed, but the candidate’s willingness to exert the effort required to obtain the signatures is also a measure of his or her seriousness as a candidate.... Indeed, the requirement of obtaining 2017 ABQB 645 (CanLII) Analysis re Infringement