The provincial government will not vote on new legislation that overrides charter rights to cut the size of council if a court orders a return to earlier rules approved at Queen’s Park, a lawyer said Tuesday.In a surprise move at a Court of Appeal hearing, provincial lawyer Robin Basu said he was given instructions to say Premier Doug Ford’s government will not bring the new Bill 31 forward for a vote at Queen’s Park if their request to essentially have a previous court ruling put on hold is allowed.That news was announced in front of a panel of judges at Osgoode Hall as well as teams of lawyers fighting the province’s push to cut the size of council. It was not previously raised in written submissions. Basu said he only received the instructions to make that statement after the court filings were made.The hearing Tuesday is to determine if a “stay” of an earlier court decision should be granted by the Court of Appeal. If the stay is granted, it is almost certain the election would be held with 25 wards. The court is expected to release its decision on whether to grant the stay Wednesday morning.The timelines are incredibly tight, with the province expected to pass Bill 31 on Thursday after sitting in rare weekend and midnight sessions. With the new game plan presented by the province, a 25-ward election would be achieved without the unprecedented step the legislature is currently taking to pass new legislation using a rare “notwithstanding” clause. The clause, which has never been used in Ontario before, makes the bill immune to many future charter challenges.Bill 31 is essentially a do-over of earlier legislation, Bill 5, that was struck down by a Superior Court judge on Sept. 10. That decision, from Justice Edward Belobaba, saw the city return to preparing a 47-ward election.The province’s lawyer, Basu, argued Tuesday there is “only one path” forward for the Toronto election and that is returni ...
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