45 search results for "court of appeal toronto"

Associate Chief Justice Alexnadra Hoy

Justice Edward Belobaba

Premier Ford

Ontario’s Court of Appeal has issued a stay putting a lower court’s ruling striking down Bill 5 on hold. Bill 5, which slashed the size of Toronto council to 25 wards, is now in effect pending appeal.  This decision by the panel of three judges means that City staff will immediately begin preparing for a 25-ward election, to be held on Oct. 22. As tweeted below, the appeal court took issue with Superior Court Judge Edward Belobaba’s finding that freedom of expression was related in some way to the size of municipal wards. The appeal court panel was composed of Associate Chief Justice Alexandra Hoy, Justice Robert Sharpe and Justice Gary Trotter. The judges found that while Toronto City Council candidates had a “reasonable expectation” they would be contesting a 47-ward election, they are not  guaranteed this outcome by the Charter of Rights. They also say that changing rules after campaign began may be unfair, but “unfairness alone does not establish a charter breach.” The appeal court again makes a distinction between fairness and a violation of the constitution. “The question for the courts is not whether Bill 5 is unfair but whether it is unconstitutional. […] [W]e have concluded that there is a strong likelihood that application judge erred in law and that the AG’s appeal to this court will succeed.”

Strong words here from the court of appeal judges, slamming Belobaba's earlier ruling: "It is not in the public interest to permit the impending election to proceed on the basis of a dubious ruling that invalidates legislation duly passed by the Legislature."

— Lauren Pelley (@LaurenPelley) September 19, 2018

As reported by Reuters and published at CP24, BC Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick has found that Edward Rogers has successfully created a new board of directors of the national firm RCI. Rogers Communications immediately filed a motion to appeal the BC court decision. Lawyers for the company asked the judge to put a stay on her ruling coming into force, in order to give them time to appeal. But the CBC account contains a view that an appeal makes little sense. Professor Richard Powers with the Rotman School of Management in Toronto said: “It’ll be a moot point because Edward will make the changes that he wanted to do. The senior management team will be gone. His directors will be in place and things move forward.”

A Canadian court on Friday backed a petition by former Rogers Communications Inc chairman Edward Rogers to validate a new board constituted by him, in a ruling that could result in a major management shakeup in the country’s biggest wireless carrier.

British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick announced the decision but did not immediately give her reasons.

A rare public fight in the Canadian corporate world was sparked over the question of who should lead the company and has weighed on the stock.

Some analysts have raised doubts about the fate of Rogers’ C$20 billion ($16.05 billion) bid for rival Shaw Communications. ($1 = 1.2464 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru Editing by Chris Reese)

The Supreme Court of Canada has found that the 2018 Ontario government decision to cut Toronto City Council in half is constitutional. The court has given the people a maddening little extra, however — the decision was decided in a 5-4 split of jurists. The majority opinion was written by Chief Justice Wagner with Judges Brown, Moldaver, Côté and Rowe concurring. The contrary opinion came from Judge Abella with Judges Karakatsanis, Martin and Kasirer concurring. Decision

Supreme Court of Canada rules Bill 5 is constitutional

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a narrow 5-4 decision, ruled that the government of Ontario’s Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, 2018, which reduced the number of electoral wards in the City of Toronto from 47 to 25 mid-election in 2018, is constitutional, thereby dismissing the City’s appeal.

The City Solicitor and her staff are reviewing the Court’s decision, which clarified the scope of s. 2(b) of the Charter protections in the context of municipal electoral campaigns, as well as the use of unwritten constitutional principles.

May 1, 2018 was nomination day for qualified candidates seeking election to Toronto City Council and its 47-ward structure in the municipal election of October 22, 2018. On July 30, 2018, however, the government of Ontario introduced the Better Local Government Act, 2018. Bill 5 became law on August 14, which reduced the boundaries in City of Toronto electoral wards from 47 to 25, significantly disrupting the municipal election, midstream, in Canada’s largest city.

The legislation was introduced “without notice to the City, candidates or electors,” the City stated in its factum to the Court on the constitutionality of the provincial legislation. “It was directed solely at Toronto and no other municipality. The result was widespread disruption of the Election and confusion among candidates and voters alike.”

The City’s appeal raised questions “about the Charter’s guarantee of freedom of expression, the scope of unwritten constitutional principles and whether municipal electors are entitled to effective representation.” The City submitted “that a truly democratic election — at a minimum, and among other things — is free from significant mid-election interference and provides electors with the right to effective representation.”

The City also submitted “that these basic democratic norms were trampled on by the government of Ontario when, without notice, it radically changed the City’s ward structure in the middle of an election.”

The City of Toronto thanks the Court for its thoughtful consideration and deliberation of these important constitutional issues.

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision Friday on the Ontario government’s 2018 decision to slice City Council in half. The decision will come perhaps seven or eight months before the next provincial election. High court will hear an appeal on cutting City Council in half

Judge Mahmud Jamal

Ontario judge Mahmud Jamal has been nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada. Judge Jamal, of Toronto, will if confirmed be the first person of colour to sit on the high court. He was a longtime litigator before becoming a judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal two years ago. He has appeared before the Supreme Court many times. He was born in Kenya, raised in England and finished high school in Edmonton before pursuing a bachelor of arts at the University of Toronto and law studies at McGill and Yale University in the US.

City Council with 47 members

SCOC 2019

The Supreme Court of Canda will hear the City of Toronto’s appeal against the Ontario Government’s decision to cut the number of City wards from 47 to 25 two years ago. The decision will make legislative history either way. If the SCC should accept the arguments that Councillors’ constitutional rights were violated by the reduction, it seems likely to open the door to huge challenges in the power of provinces to control the fate of municipalities. That’s a power enshrined in the constitution since Confederation.

Narrowly upheld by Court of Appeal

Challenges to the 2018 legislation, named the Better Local Government Act, have so far seen an early victory for Councillors when Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba found the law unconstitutional. He also said it violated the rights of politicians in the middle of a campaign and ran afoul of the rights of voters by stopping them from casting a ballot that could provide effective representation. But later the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Belobaba’s ruling with a narrow 3-2 decision saying the sudden legislation did not interfere with either candidates’ or voters’ ability to express themselves freely. Free speech is not the same as effective free speech, the majority found.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has delivered a split decision in favour of the province in the City’s challenge to Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, 2018. The court found 3-2 that the legislation that reduced the City’s wards from 47 to 25 in the middle of the 2018 election is constitutional. Decision CBC

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will use the notwithstanding clause to override a judge’s decision on slashing the size of Toronto City Council. Ford cited the constitutional provision dating from Confederation which makes municipalities the creatures of the provinces. Toronto, he said, is a creation of the Legislature. He said legal experts of all parties agreed that Bill 5 was “completely constitutional.” He said he found today’s decision by Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba “deeply concerning” in law. CBC

NDP leader Andrea Horwath will hold a news conference after the Premier’s. Staffer tells us they’ll wait as long as needed to let reporters move between one event and the other. @680NEWS

— Mark Douglas (@DouglasCityNews) September 10, 2018

The end might be near for a seven-year battle that has kept the public from easily finding sales data for homes in the Greater Toronto Area. The Supreme Court of Canada said it will announce on Thursday morning whether it will hear an appeal from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) that would keep TREB’s members from publishing home sales data on their password-protected sites. TREB’s fight began in 2011 when the Competition Bureau, a federal watchdog designed to protect consumers by investigating business policies and mergers, challenged TREB’s policy preventing the publication of such information, saying it impedes competition and digital innovation — CTV

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John Reszetnik

Yosuke Hayahara, 73

Detective Rob North

Police are appealing to “seven or eight witnesses” to the brief pushing incident Monday in the Bloor subway station that led directly to the death of a man who fell into the path of a train. He has been identified as Yosuke Hayahara, 73. He was waiting to board an eastbound Line 2 train. The accused, John Reszetnik, 57, of Toronto, appeared in prison clothing in court Tuesday and seemed to be detached from events. He spoke in a mumble raising speculation about his mental state. After the remand, Detective Rob North told reporters: “We are looking for seven or eight witnesses who we believe had some very close interaction or close ties to our accused or our deceased. They would have seen what happened, based on some utterances or witness statements that we have,” North said. “We are appealing to those seven or eight individuals to come forward. I understand it’s a very traumatic incident they may have witnessed, however we would like them to come forward so we can interview them and get a narrative about what transpired.”

Revised proposal for Scrivener Court

The proposed Scrivener Court development on Yonge St. south of the North Toronto railway station (now and for decades a liquor store) has been presented to the City’s Design Review Panel (DRP) and has apparently found some favour. The proposal put forward by Diamond Corp and Tricon Capital has been reduced five storeys to a height of 21 floors. It is a mixed use concept which as reported by Urban Toronto would create “create an enhanced and pedestrian-friendly heart’ for the Summerhill neighborhood.” The revised proposal was also presented at a public meeting March 20. The number of rental units has been reduced to 141 from the original 182 and a 332 square meter public park has been added to the proposal. Councillor Krystin Wong-Tam said she had not seen the revised proposal before the session and declined to state whether she supports it. An original, taller proposal is before the Ontario Municipal Board following an appeal from Diamond which has said it would withdraw the appeal if the new proposal were approved by the City.

• Posters fight plan to “blot out” North Toronto station clock

Madame Justice Sheilah Martin

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed Madame Justice Sheilah Martin to the Supreme Court of Canada. Martin was a member of the Courts of Appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Her appointment addresses the retirement of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin who retires Dec. 15 after almost 18 years on the court. Justice Martin is said to have a passion for the law. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a Doctorate of Juridical Sciences. She has worked as a professor of law at the University of Calgary and as Dean. In addition to her many awards, Justice Martin has traveled the world participating in judicial education seminars, sat as a board member or chair on multiple legal/community-based organizations, and has authored many publications. She has an unwavering focus on advancing the role of women in Canada’s courts and, it is said, a tireless devotion to the legal system.