The embattled Progressive Conservative government is going on a midnight run.Amid a circus-like atmosphere on a rare Saturday sitting, Government House Leader Todd Smith announced the legislature will resume Monday at 12:01 a.m. to debate a controversial bill slashing the size of Toronto council.With the Oct. 22 city election hanging in the balance, Premier Doug Ford’s fledgling administration is scrambling.Smith tried and failed to get unanimous consent Saturday for further debate on Bill 31, the Efficient Local Government Act, and there was not enough time to secure Sunday proceedings in the legislature.“We’re going to bring the House back at 12:01 a.m. Monday. That way we will be able to begin debate on this bill,” he told reporters after a 46-minute session that saw protesters in the public gallery denouncing Ford.The House leader said the debate would continue “till the early morning hours of Monday morning.”“Then we’re going to return for question period (at 10:30 a.m. Monday) … then our intent is to be able to head off to the International Plowing Match,” he said, referring to the Chatham-Kent rural expo that most MPPs annually attend.Queen’s Park has been plunged into uncertainty since Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled last Monday that Bill 31’s previous incarnation was unconstitutional because it infringed on Charter rights in the middle of an election.That forced the Tories to reintroduce the bill invoking the Charter’s “notwithstanding” clause, which allows the government to overrule the courts in order to proceed with its legislative agenda.It’s the first time an Ontario premier has resorted to that nuclear option and constitutional titans like former prime minister Jean Chrétien, former premiers Bill Davis, Bob Rae, and David Peterson, and former justice ministers Roy McMurtry and Roy Romanow have denounced it.Ford, who never once mentione ...
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