Law System Of Toronto City Under The Rule Of Premier Doug Ford

Introduction

Since elected Premier June 8th, 2018, Premier Doug Ford has been working nonstop to get plans for the city of Toronto up running. Most recently Premier Doug Ford introduced a new bill, The Better Local Government Act. It works to reduce Toronto city council from 47 to 25 members which caused protesters and was opposed by other members of the government. The Case went before the Superior Court of Justice and was denied on the grounds of breach of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Premier Ford didn't agree on which he then brought in front of The Court of Appeal and then the bill was finally past.

Bills & Charter of Right and Freedom

Premier Doug Ford Introduced Bill 5 "The Better Local Government Act." Which would reduce the city councilors member from 47 to 25, Ford believes that by reducing the amount of ward can make the government more efficient in the upcoming municipal election on Oct 22nd, 2018. When bill 5 was denied by the Superior Court of Justice, Premier Ford Created Bill 31 "The Efficient Local Government Act. It's important to know that Bill 31 is like Bill 5 and was created because of the unsuspected issues that occurred from the Bill 5 passing. Therefore bill 31 was created and supported by the notwithstanding clause of section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedom. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 33 "The Notwithstanding clause was created in 1982 by Pierre Trudeau. Its intent was to grant government officials bypass if there was a disagreement with a court decision. On the other hand, many officials were concerned it may affect their abilities to pass Laws. Which is the reason why Premier Ford used this tool to achieve the passing of the Bill 31? (Hutchins, 2018)

Superior Court of Justice

On September 12th, 2018, Premier Doug Ford Went to court in front of the Honorable Judge Justice Belobaba of the Superior Court of Justice. Judge Belobaba ruled that bill 5 could not be passed and that the election should go on with 47 members rather than 25. The reason for his decision is that he believed that Bill 5 was unconstitutional and overlooked Section 2 (b) of the Canadian Charter of Right and Freedoms. Which compromised councilors running in the current election and affected the voters. Judge Belobaba also stated that the Bill 5 was rushed to be implemented especially in mid-election without much deliberation which could significantly affect the municipal candidate's freedom of expression. Therefore, Belobaba relied on section 2 (b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedom to cease bill 5 from being passed.

Court of Appeal

After the passing of Bill 5 was denied by the Honorable Justice Belobaba through the Superior Court of Justice. Premier Ford decided that he did not agree with the ruling of Judge Belobaba, Leading Premier Ford to file an appeal. On September 18th, 2018 the case was presented to the Ontario Court of Appeal in front of 3 justice panel. By using section 33 which is the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The justice panel granted bill 31 passing, which gave the ability to cut the municipal election from 47 to 25 wards. (Westoll, 2018).

In conclusion, the Judge's final words stated that "There is a Strong likelihood that the application that the judge aired in law and that the attorney general appealed to his court will succeed. The judgment under the appeal was probably wrongly decided that it is in the public interest to permit the impending election to proceed on the bases of a dubious ruling, which invalidates the legislation duly passed by the legislator (Dhanraj, 2018)

Over Stepping boundaries

Many would say that the province overstepped their jurisdiction in the case of bill 5 & bill 31. Judge Edward Belobaba stated that when the Premier introduced the cut of the legislation in half from 47 to 25 in the middle of the municipal election. The judge decided that it breached the candidate's freedom of expression. Therefore, didn't allow candidates or voters the chance to have their opinion represented in this matter. Should there be an Amendment? There should not be a constitutional amendment to remove powers from the province over the municipalities. The reason for this is that laws are made by government officials, which we the people voted for based on what was promised to us and whom we believed can be our voice so that the problems that we are facing in our government and community can hopefully be solved. By electing government officials, we are trusting that when candidate get elected they will use all the resources that are available to them to achieve goals that were promised. Therefore, by restricting and changing the powers of the province over municipalities who have the best interest for the people, can shift the outcome of change that could happen in our communities and cities.

Arising issues

By Premier Doug Ford implementing a new bill to cut the municipal election in half from 47 wards to 25 wards, mid-election has a negative outcome. The repercussions of this effect were based on the confusion of the voters not knowing what election was valid in their communities. Also, by passing the bill in the middle of the election breached the candidate's freedom of speech. With 47 wards population of 62,082, each councilor strived to listen and change the issues of the community. By downs sizing the wards from 47 to 25 now, each councilor represents an average population 109,262 which decreases that amount of availability between the community and councilors. Therefore, which this bill active in the election not only causes less availability in the community but also might affect the city. Some may say that the powers that the government officials have to invoke certain laws in the country may have negative consequences. To achieve goals that our government creates our leaders work night and day in hope that we can benefit in the future. By using section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedom, the notwithstanding clause can be our key if used in a positive manner and can benefit the city in many ways. With our government officials, for example, Doug Ford using all the resources in his power will result in improving our city.

Conclusion

I believe the justice was not served on the in the case of Doug Ford implementing bill 31. By Premier Doug Ford using the notwithstanding clause, it allows him to have the power to override decisions that the court rules without much deliberation. By having this power, it breaches the Charter of Rights and Freedom and can affect the way we are as a democracy. The ways it affects our society is since we believe each person is entitled to be represented in our government. Hence by decreasing the amount of councilor we automatically favor the majority instead of the minority. Also, as the people we have the right to vote for the candidate we feel will achieve change in our community. However, by decreasing the number of candidates limits our choice and can cause a major setback. Which causes voters to not practice their right to vote based on the lack of motivation since they think the candidates that are nominated may be ineffective since the majority has the upper hand.

Work Cited:

1. Westoll, Nick. "Appeal Court to Rule on Staying Decision That Set aside Law Cutting Toronto City Council Size." Global News, Global News, 18 Sept. 2018, globalnews.ca/news/4460010/court-of-appeal-ontario-bill-5-toronto-city-council-election/.
2. Smith, Ainsley. "Ford's Controversial Bill Passes Major Hurdle during Rare Midnight Session." Daily Hive, 17 Sept. 2018, dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-bill-31-midnight-session.
3. Westoll, Nick, and David Shum. "Ontario's Appeal Court Sides with Ford Government, Paves Way for 25-Ward Toronto Election." Global News, Global News, 19 Sept. 2018, globalnews.ca/news/4464728/appeal-court-stay-toronto-city-council/.
4. Hutchins, Aaron. "Why Doug Ford Went Straight to the 'Nuclear Option' on Toronto City Council." Macleans.ca, Macleans.ca, 11 Sept. 2018, www.macleans.ca/politics/why-doug-ford-went-straight-to-the-nuclear-option-on-toronto-city-council/