A court decision on whether Toronto election preparations will continue with 47 wards or return to a smaller 25-ward scenario is set to be released Wednesday at 10 a.m.But the effects of that decision may be fleeting — less than 48 hours — if the province plows ahead with plans to introduce new legislation that would enforce a cut to the size of city council.Even then, the legal challenges won’t be over.A panel of three Court of Appeal judges — Associate Chief Justice Alexandra Hoy, Justice Robert Sharpe and Justice Gary Trotter — heard arguments Tuesday at Osgoode Hall on whether they should put an earlier court ruling on hold and order the city to continue preparing an election with 25 wards. Because of tight timelines leading up to the fast-approaching election on Oct. 22 and the expected legal challenges to the province’s new legislation, the Court of Appeal decision on the stay could permanently establish the ward structure for the election, making it a milestone in the ongoing council cut saga.The hearing Tuesday, which again pitted the province and city’s legal teams against one another, began with an unexpected statement from Premier Doug Ford’s government. It came from provincial lawyer Robin Basu, who said he was given instructions to say newly-introduced legislation, Bill 31, would not be brought to a vote at Queen’s Park if the province got its way in court.That was a troubling position for the province to take, city lawyer Diana Dimmer argued.“It’s almost in the nature of a threat — if everybody doesn’t back off the province will continue with this chaos,” she said, adding — “the chaos that they’re responsible for.” The hearing centred on whether the judges should grant a “stay” of a Sept. 10 decision from Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba that deemed the province’s previous legislation, Bill 5, was unconstitutional.Ford ...
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