Was the Ford government's move to slash Toronto city council constitutional? Canada's top court to decide
CBC
Canada's top court is expected to rule Friday on whether Ontario Premier Doug Ford's decision to slash the size of Toronto's city council during the last municipal election was constitutional.
The Supreme Court of Canada decision is set to be delivered roughly a year before Toronto's next municipal vote.
The 2018 municipal campaign was well underway when the Ontario legislature passed a law that reduced the number of council seats in Toronto to 25 from 47, aligning them with federal ridings.
At the time, Ford — a former Toronto city councillor and failed mayoral candidate — argued the change would streamline council operations and save $25 million. Critics, however, denounced it as undemocratic and arbitrary.
Toronto successfully challenged the legislation in Superior Court, with the judge deeming it unconstitutional.
Justice Edward Belobaba found the law infringed on the free-expression rights of candidates by affecting their ability to campaign, and on the rights of voters by preventing them from casting a ballot that could result in effective representation.
Ford threatened to use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause to push through the change. The clause gives provincial legislatures and Parliament the ability to bring in legislation that overrides provisions in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but only for five years.
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