Supreme Court upholds Ontario law that slashed Toronto council
CTV
Canada's top court has upheld an Ontario law that slashed the size of Toronto's city council nearly in half during the last municipal election.
In a split 5-4 decision issued this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada found the change imposed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford did not violate the free-expression rights of candidates or voters.
The majority of the panel ruled that everyone had several months to adjust to the new system before the October 2018 vote.
The dissenting judges, however, found the timing of the legislation did amount to an infringement of free-expression rights.
The municipal campaign was well underway when the Ontario legislature passed a law that reduced the number of council seats in Toronto to 25 from 47, aligning them with federal ridings.
