It´s now up to Court of Appeal to decide if Ford government´s Toronto council cut will stand
(The Star Religion)

A rare five-judge Court of Appeal panel will now decide whether the province improperly interfered in Toronto’s 2018 election when it slashed the size of council without consultation more than three months into an ongoing campaign.The outcome of the case could have implications, not only for future Toronto elections but, if it’s ultimately heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, on the rights of all cities and their residents when it comes to democratic elections.On Tuesday, after a second day of the hearing in a second-floor Osgoode courtroom, the Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice James MacPherson reserved its decision until a later, unspecified date. That could come in weeks or months.The province is asking Bill 5 be upheld and for the city pay $500,000 in provincial legal costs.Before they retired for the day, the city’s lawyer Glenn Chu made this final comment to the panel:“If you had been asked to go to a country with a burgeoning democracy and teach what democracy is . . . and they asked you: ‘Was what happened back in (August 2018) to the City of Toronto’s municipal election, is that what democracy is about?’ What would this panel say?� Chu asked. “We suggest to you that the answer to that question be: It wasn’t right.�Premier Doug Ford’s Ontario PC government first introduced Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, in July 2018 to cut the size of council from the planned 47 wards to 25 wards matching provincial and federal ridings.That move led to the city and groups of candidates and residents challenging that legislation in Superior Court, where Justice Edward Belobaba agreed the bill infringed candidates’ and voters’ charter right to freedom of expression.The province in turn appealed that ruling and successfully had a three-judge panel pause — or “stay� — the lower-court ruling, effectively allowing the 25-ward election desired by the pro ...