Court stay paves way for Toronto election with 25 wards

TORONTO — Ontario’s top court sided with the provincial government Wednesday in a legal battle over the size of Toronto’s council, firmly establishing a reduced 25-ward electoral map for the city’s looming municipal vote.

In suspending what it called a “dubious” lower court ruling that found the province’s move to cut council unconstitutional, the Court of Appeal for Ontario also did away with the Progressive Conservative government’s need to rush through reintroduced legislation on the matter.

That new legislation has drawn heavy criticism for invoking a constitutional provision known as the notwithstanding clause to ensure its passage, but the government said it now won’t move forward with the bill.

“It is time to put the political games behind us,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark. “We will continue working with the Toronto city clerk to provide every support possible to help with the administration of the election on Oct. 22.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory said while the court decision was not what the city sought, it does bring clarity for the time being.

“I have opposed, and continue to oppose, the provincial government’s actions. They are unfair, they are unnecessary, and they are unprecedented,” he said. “You don’t change the rules of an election in the middle of the election, and you shouldn’t be surprised when your recklessness causes chaos and confusion.”

When asked whether the city would take the issue to the Supreme Court, Tory said city lawyers have been given the authority to take whatever steps are needed to fight the council cut.

The province had argued that a stay — which allows city staff to abandon the 47-ward council model revived by the lower court ruling — was necessary to eliminate uncertainty surrounding the upcoming election.

The Appeal Court agreed.

“It is not in the public interest to permit the impending election to proceed on the basis of a dubious ruling that invalidates legislation duly passed by the legislature,” the panel wrote.

The panel rejected arguments from those opposed to the stay that the province was responsible for the chaos surrounding the election and shouldn’t be granted relief.

An Ontario judge last week found that the province’s Bill 5, which reduced Toronto council to 25 seats from 47 in the middle of the election campaign, violated freedom of expression rights for candidates and voters.

Premier Doug Ford contested the ruling and took the unprecedented step of invoking the notwithstanding clause in reintroduced legislation to push through with his plan.

The new bill was expected to be up for a final vote on Thursday, but the province said it would now be “moving on to other priorities” in light of the stay.