| Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General) | |
|---|---|
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| Hearing: March 16, 2021 Judgment: October 1, 2021 | |
| Citations | 2021 SCC 34 |
| Docket No. | 38921 [1] |
| Prior history | 2018 ONSC 5151 (application granted) 2019 ONCA 732 (appeal allowed) |
| Ruling | Appeal dismissed |
| Holding | |
| Law did not violate the freedom of expression of candidates and voters contrary to Section 2(b) of the Charter. Furthermore, unwritten constitutional principles cannot serve as the basis for invalidating legislation. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice: Richard Wagner Puisne Justices: Rosalie Abella, Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Suzanne Côté, Russell Brown, Malcolm Rowe, Sheilah Martin, Nicholas Kasirer | |
| Reasons given | |
| Majority | Wagner CJ and Brown J, joined by Moldaver, Côté, and Rowe JJ |
| Dissent | Abella J, joined by Karakatsanis, Martin and Kasirer JJ |
Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 SCC 34, is a landmark[2][3] decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on freedom of expression and unwritten constitutional principles. By a 5–4 majority, the court held that the Government of Ontario's decision to reduce the size of the Toronto City Council in the middle of 2018 municipal election campaign did not violate either section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the unwritten principle of democracy. The court further held that unwritten constitutional principles could not serve as an independent basis to invalidate legislation.
In the Ontario general election held on June 7, 2018, Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative Party transitioned from being the official opposition to forming a majority government. Subsequently, on July 30, 2018, the Better Local Government Act, 2018 was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, which amended the City of Toronto Act, 2006 changing the number of wards comprising Toronto City Council, reducing them from 47 to 25. The Better Local Government Act passed its third reading and received Royal Assent on August 14, 2018.
Following the enactment of this legislation, the City of Toronto, along with several candidates, challenged its constitutionality in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The court found that the provisions of the act infringed upon the section 2(b) rights of both candidates and electors. However, on appeal, the Court of Appeal for Ontario stayed the decision of the lower court, and a year later, it ruled that the provisions were constitutional. Subsequently, the City of Toronto appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ultimately upheld the constitutionality of the provisions.
- ^ SCC Case Information - Docket 38921 Supreme Court of Canada
- ^ Datar, Arvind; Unnikrishnan, Rahul (October 9, 2021). "What the Canadian Supreme Court Held on Unwritten Constitutional Principles". Bar and Bench. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^ Schmitz, Cristin (October 1, 2021). "Ontario did not violate Constitution by downsizing wards during Toronto's 2018 municipal election: SCC". The Lawyer's Daily. Retrieved October 11, 2021.