Top court will hear Toronto’s appeal of Ford government’s council cuts
By Leslie MacKinnon.
Published on Mar 26, 2020 12:49pm
The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal from the city of Toronto over whether Premier Doug Ford’s government breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it slashed the number of Toronto’s wards from 47 to 25 in the middle of a municipal election campaign.
Toronto’s municipal election was set to take place on October 22, 2018. Ford’s Conservative government was elected on June 7 of that year. In August, the new government passed the Better Local Government Act which cut the number of municipal wards in Toronto almost in half and changed ward boundaries.
The drastic reduction in seats occurred after candidates who’d won nominations were certified. Ford, who was a city councillor before he became Ontario’s premier, had not campaigned on the issue of reducing the size of Toronto’s government.
Toronto city councillors launched a court challenge, and a lower court judge found in their favour, ruling the right of freedom of expression of election candidates had been violated.
However, a majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside the lower court decision.
The top court is still hearing leave applications, but has cancelled its March, April and May sessions due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The March session was scheduled to include appeals from Saskatchewan and Ontario over the federal government’s imposition of a carbon tax.
https://ipolitics.ca/2020/03/26/top-court-will-hear-torontos-appeal-of-ford-governments-council-cuts/
By Leslie MacKinnon.
Published on Mar 26, 2020 12:49pm
The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal from the city of Toronto over whether Premier Doug Ford’s government breached the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it slashed the number of Toronto’s wards from 47 to 25 in the middle of a municipal election campaign.
Toronto’s municipal election was set to take place on October 22, 2018. Ford’s Conservative government was elected on June 7 of that year. In August, the new government passed the Better Local Government Act which cut the number of municipal wards in Toronto almost in half and changed ward boundaries.
The drastic reduction in seats occurred after candidates who’d won nominations were certified. Ford, who was a city councillor before he became Ontario’s premier, had not campaigned on the issue of reducing the size of Toronto’s government.
Toronto city councillors launched a court challenge, and a lower court judge found in their favour, ruling the right of freedom of expression of election candidates had been violated.
However, a majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside the lower court decision.
The top court is still hearing leave applications, but has cancelled its March, April and May sessions due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The March session was scheduled to include appeals from Saskatchewan and Ontario over the federal government’s imposition of a carbon tax.
https://ipolitics.ca/2020/03/26/top-court-will-hear-torontos-appeal-of-ford-governments-council-cuts/