Welcome to the Website of Tamils for Doug Ford!
  • Login
  • Register
Tamils for Doug Ford
Join Us
Donate Now
  • Home
  • Doug Ford
  • Newsroom
  • Events
    • Events Calendar
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Submit New Event
  • Donations
    • Active Campaigns
    • My Donations
  • Social Wall
  • Contact Us
  • Shop

No products in the cart.

  • Home
  • Doug Ford
  • Newsroom
  • Events
    • Events Calendar
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Submit New Event
  • Donations
    • Active Campaigns
    • My Donations
  • Social Wall
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Tamils for Doug Ford
Home Latest Articles

Supreme Court of Canada to rule on Ontario’s move to slash Toronto city council – Toronto

skumaresh by skumaresh
30/09/2021
in Latest Articles
0 0
0
Supreme Court of Canada to rule on Ontario’s move to slash Toronto city council - Toronto
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppEmail

TORONTO — 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 Ontario’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.

Read more:
Charter section to be key in Toronto court battle over council cut

At the time, Ford — a former Toronto city councillor and failed mayoral candidate — argued the change would streamline council operations and save $25 million.

Story continues below advertisement

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.

In the end, the Progressive Conservative premier didn’t have to invoke the clause as the province won a stay of the decision pending appeal. Toronto’s election went ahead with the reduced council size.

In its arguments to the Court of Appeal, the province said the law was a “proportionate measure” to address “dysfunction” in city council, which it said was caused by having too many councillors.

Read more:
With Toronto city council slashed to 25 wards, attention turns to governing

The city, meanwhile, said the results of the 2018 vote should be allowed to stand until the next election, which is set to take place next October. It sought to have the court strike down the legislation as unconstitutional, arguing, among other things, that it violated unwritten constitutional principles of democracy.

Story continues below advertisement

Ontario’s top court was split on the matter, with three judges ruling to overturn Belobaba’s decision and two to uphold it.

The majority found the legislation did not infringe on candidates’ or voters’ ability to express themselves freely. The dissenting judges found it did interfere with the free-expression rights of candidates.

The Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the city’s challenge of the Appeal Court ruling. A hearing was held in March.

In its written submissions, the city argued the change caused significant disruption and confusion for candidates and voters.

Read more:
Ontario Appeal Court rules 3-2 in favour of law that slashed Toronto city council

The new ward boundaries made it so candidates had campaigned in areas that were no longer part of their ward, and hadn’t in areas that now belonged to their ward, the city wrote. Voters, meanwhile, were no longer certain which ward they lived in and who the candidates were, it argued.

It also again argued that the law breached “the unwritten constitutional principle of democracy.”

The province’s submissions said voters and candidates had all the information they needed on who was running in each ward prior to the vote.

Story continues below advertisement

It also said unwritten constitutional principles can’t be used to strike down legislation _ but even if they could, the province argued, there is no basis to find they were infringed in this case.


Click to play video: 'John Tory sits down for first meeting with Doug Ford following Toronto election'






2:14
John Tory sits down for first meeting with Doug Ford following Toronto election











© 2021 The Canadian Press



Ref: globalnews.ca

Please login to join discussion
No Result
View All Result

News Categories

  • Latest Articles (76)
  • User Submitted (1)

Most Viewed Articles

    Latest News Articles

    Ontario Health wants public-private integration as hospitals struggle with staffing

    Ontario Health wants public-private integration as hospitals struggle with staffing

    16/08/2022
    Croatian nurse sets sights on Texas instead of ‘complicated’ Ontario system

    Croatian nurse sets sights on Texas instead of ‘complicated’ Ontario system

    04/08/2022
    Toronto man calls for hospital backlog fix as wife awaits procedure - Toronto

    Toronto man calls for hospital backlog fix as wife awaits procedure – Toronto

    25/07/2022

    Doug Ford is a businessman and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.

    Doug’s commitment to public service runs in his family. Three generations of Fords have served the people of Ontario in elected office. His service to the public includes over 20 years of dedicated work with the Toronto West Rotary Club.

    Who is Doug Ford?

    • My Profile
    • My Donations
    • Submit News Article
    • Submit an Event
    • Become a Volunteer

    News Categories

    • Latest Articles (76)
    • User Submitted (1)

    Follow Us

    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2022 TamilsForDougFord.ca - Powered by EvoSolv.com.

    • Login
    • Sign Up
    • Cart
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Doug Ford
    • Newsroom
    • Events
      • Events Calendar
      • Upcoming Events
      • Past Events
      • Submit New Event
    • Donations
      • Active Campaigns
      • My Donations
    • Social Wall
    • Contact Us
    • Shop

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password? Sign Up

    Create New Account!

    Sign Up with Facebook
    Sign Up with Google
    OR

    Fill the forms below to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In