Ontario offers to stall Toronto council bill if court stays ruling
TORONTO — The Ontario government will not push through a controversial bill to cut Toronto city council nearly in half if the province’s highest court stays a ruling that quashed an earlier version of the legislation, government lawyers argued Tuesday.
In a hearing before the Court of Appeal for Ontario, lawyer Robin Basu said legislators would hold off voting on the new bill if a panel of three judges decides to stay the lower court ruling, which reinstated the city’s 47 wards, until after the October election.
The appeal court is expected to give its decision on the stay application this morning.
“There is only one path available to assure the [Toronto city] clerk that she is in a position to proceed with an election with integrity and fairness on Oct. 22,” Basu told the court. “It is simply not feasible to prepare for two elections at the same time.”
Lawyers representing the City of Toronto, some municipal candidates and other parties argued the province is responsible for the chaos surrounding the election and therefore cannot seek legal relief for the problems it has caused.
They also said the government’s proposal to stall the new bill if the court rules in its favour is almost akin to a threat.
“It’s not your job to save them from themselves,” lawyer Donald Eady, who represents a group that includes candidates, told the judges.
Last week Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that Bill 5, which slashed Toronto’s council to 25 seats from 47 in the middle of an election campaign, violated freedom of expression rights for candidates and voters.
Premier Doug Ford has since reintroduced the bill, now known as Bill 31, and invoked a constitutional provision known as the notwithstanding clause to forge ahead with the councilcutting plan.
If the province is successful in securing a stay, city staff would immediately start planning for an election based on the 25-ward model rather than the 47-ward approach that went back into effect with Belobaba’s decision.