Last week, Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that the province’s Bill 5 — which cut Toronto’s wards to 25 from 47 — was unconstitutional, and that the Oct. 22 municipal election should proceed with the original 47-ward system. The province turned to Ontario’s highest court, the Court of Appeal, on Tuesday asking a panel of three judges for stay of Belobaba’s ruling. A stay, if granted, essentially means that Belobaba’s ruling would not take effect pending the outcome of the province’s appeal.The judges will return with their decision on the stay at 10 a.m. Wednesday.In the meantime, the government has also introduced in the legislature Bill 31, which would allow the election to take place with 25 wards, but which overrides the rights that Belobaba said were infringed in Bill 5. That bill has not yet been passed.City of Toronto clerk Ulli Watkiss has intervener status at the stay hearing, but takes no position on the outcome. What happens if the province is granted a stay of Belobaba’s ruling at the Court of Appeal?Bill 5, with its 25-ward structure, will stand, and the clerk will be expected to hold an election on Oct. 22 accordingly. The province’s lawyer said in court that if the stay is granted, it will not proceed with Bill 31. The question then becomes when will the province’s appeal of Bill 5, which could overturn Belobaba’s ruling, be heard? The province has argued it would be virtually impossible for an appeal to be heard before the Oct. 22 municipal election. It has said in its factum with the Court of Appeal that it would agree to an expedited appeal hearing, as early as the first week of November, before the new council is sworn in.From the province’s point of view, if the appeal is heard and allowed, the province argues that nothing further needs to be done, as the 25-ward election will have already happened.If the appeal is dismissed, the province argues the cou ...
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