Supreme Court of Canada Hearing on Better Local Government Act

The Supreme Court of Canada has set a March 16th hearing date for the City of Toronto's appeal related to the City of Toronto et al v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2018 ONSC 5151 and subsequent appeal in Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2019 ONCA 732 which dealt with the Better Local Government Act, 2018.



Recall that the Province through Bill 5, Better Local Government Act, 2018 reduced the City of Toronto's wards from 47 to 25 in the middle of a municipal election in 2018.  At the time of it's introduction, AMCTO responded to the bill expressing a number of concerns.



Originally, parts of Bill 5 were struck down by a lower court judge, the Ontario Court of Appeal overruled that decision and granted a stay to allow the 2018 election to proceed with 25 wards as directed by the legislation. In March 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the appeal requested by the City of Toronto. 



The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is an intervenor and provided a submission (PDF). Also of note, the Government of British Columbia is also an intervenor in the case siding with the Province of Ontario as is the Toronto District School Board who is siding with the City. There are several other intervenors in this case. 



Leave for Appeal Application and Response:

City of Toronto's appeal submission

Province of Ontario's submission