What will Doug Ford do now that a judge has blocked his plan to cut Toronto city council?

[soysauce]

黄保粉热爱的领袖就应该拥有无限的权力，不受任何司法限制的绝对权力。黄保粉错过中国梦，护驾福一尊做安省帝国梦。最恨什么，原来就是最爱什么。

 

[ccc]

Political leaders past and present are raising concerns about Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s plan to use the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to enforce his changes to the size of Toronto’s city council.

The notwithstanding clause is Section 33 of the 1982 Constitution Act. It allows the provinces or the federal government to overrule certain Charter rights for a period of five years by using an Act of Parliament. Ford said Monday that he would use the power for the first time in Ontario’s history after a court ruled that his legislation to cut the size of Toronto city council from 47 seats to 25 mid-election interfered with voters’ and candidates’ freedom of expression.

Brian Mulroney, who was prime minister in the early days of the Charter, says that although it’s “not anti-democratic” for a premier to use the clause, he was “never tempted to use it” while in office.

“I had no interest in using it no matter what,” Mulroney told reporters Tuesday.

The former Progressive Conservative prime minister’s daughter, Caroline Mulroney, is the current Ontario Attorney General who will oversee the historic legislation. They have not discussed the issue, he said.

Mulroney added that he has always opposed using the clause to overrule Supreme Court of Canada decisions.

“For me, the backbone of our democracy, the strength of our democracy, is the independence and competence of the court system in Canada,” Mulroney added.

Bob Rae, who served as NDP premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 and later as interim leader of the federal Liberals, told CTV’s Power Play Tuesday that he was “never for a second” tempted to use the power.

“That may have had something do with the fact that I was very much involved in the constitutional discussions ... and felt very strongly that the Charter was a very fine achievement for Canada,” he said.

According to Rae, the clause should be used only “with the utmost of discretion and only at the conclusion of a judicial process where you say, ‘Well, we respectfully disagree with the court.’”

“In Ontario’s case, as soon as the Charter became the law, it very quickly became the view of a lot of people in different political parties that you really don’t want to get into the business of second-guessing the courts,” he added.

Former Alberta premier Alison Redford, a Progressive Conservative, said that it can be appropriate for premiers to use the clause, but she believes it was only intended to be used after exhausting all possible appeals in the courts.

Redford said that when she was attorney general in Alberta, she thought about using it in legislation aimed at controlling gangs that critics warned might be unconstitutional but it was only a last resort.

“Our view at the time was to let the courts decide and if the courts did not decide in our favour then to possibly consider it,” she told Power Play.

Redford said that using the notwithstanding clause without exhausting appeals “brings it into the legislative process, which is different than what I think the people who drafted the constitution and agreed to the constitution in 1982 intended.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Winnipeg that he believes the use of the notwithstanding clause must be done with “the utmost forethought and reflection.”

“The Charter is there to protect Canadians from governments that overreach,” Trudeau said. “It’s something that Canadians value and identify with, and it’s something that protects us all.”

Former Conservative justice minister Peter MacKay told CTV News that he was surprised that Ford chose to use the so-called “nuclear option” for what MacKay described as “a very limited circumstance.”

“As a former federal justice minister issues that often came before us around child protection, particularly those that involved child sexual abuse or human trafficking (may have warranted) using the notwithstanding clause due to the public support,” MacKay said.

“But clearly ... it was never intended for that purpose,” he added, referring to Ford’s council cuts legislation. “It was intended for very limited issues deemed to be of critical importance at a critical time.”

 

[New Person]

“For me, the backbone of our democracy, the strength of our democracy, is the independence and competence of the court system in Canada,” Mulroney added.

说得好。
但是，既然有此条款，就应该容许有人在限定条件下运用。但话又说回来，对于这么一个小事动用该条款，说明FORD实在太轻率。

 

[小地主]

说得好。
但是，既然有此条款，就应该容许有人在限定条件下运用。但话又说回来，对于这么一个小事动用该条款，说明FORD实在太轻率。

岂止是轻率。。简直是无脑。。

 

[New Person]

岂止是轻率。。简直是无脑。。

或者是他和多伦多市议会成见太深，这事对他来说太重要?

 

[小地主]

或者是他和多伦多市议会成见太深，这事对他来说太重要?

希望他的幕僚们能制止他。。考验小马卢尼的时候到了。。如果拦不住，可以不惜辞职，为自己今后的政治生涯铺平道路。。

 

[soysauce]

希望他的幕僚们能制止他。。考验小马卢尼的时候到了。。如果拦不住，可以不惜辞职，为自己今后的政治生涯铺平道路。。

幕僚和当时发声支持福特的党内长老说了，此人无法制止。福省长说，在今后的诉讼中他还会继续使用此条款。福娃一板斧走天下，比川普还牛。

 

[soysauce]

或者是他和多伦多市议会成见太深，这事对他来说太重要?

没文化，束缚小，敢说敢干。

 

[ccc]

希望他的幕僚们能制止他。。考验小马卢尼的时候到了。。如果拦不住，可以不惜辞职，为自己今后的政治生涯铺平道路。。

别折腾出宪法危机来。

 

[New Person]

Ford defends moves on council-cutting plan

TORONTO - Protesters heckled Ontario Premier Doug Ford in the legislature Wednesday as he defended his decision to push through a bill slashing Toronto city council nearly in half just days after a judge found the legislation unconstitutional.

Shouts erupted from the public gallery as Ford argued he was protecting democracy by invoking a constitutional provision to override the court decision, which found his plan to cut the size of the city's council in the middle of an election violated candidates' and voters' freedom of expression rights.

"This is about preserving the will of the people, this is about preserving democracy," Ford said during question period, citing his Progressive Conservatives' victory in the spring election.

Asked whether he believed in the Charter of Rights, the premier said a democratically elected government should not be derailed by a "politically appointed" judge.

The premier maintains cutting Toronto city council to 25 seats from 47 is necessary to streamline decision-making and save taxpayer money.

The commotion from protesters opposed to Ford's plan drew repeated reprimands from the Speaker, who eventually recessed the legislature and cleared the public gallery. At least two of the protesters were handcuffed by security officers.

© Provided by thecanadianpress.com Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters, in Toronto, on Monday, September 10, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov.
Laura Barrett, a Toronto supply teacher, lined up to watch the debate Wednesday morning but couldn't make it inside before the gallery was shut down.

Barrett said she felt it was important to show her disapproval at what she called a "constitutional tragedy," adding the premier's decision to move forward with the council cut appeared "petty and vindictive."

"It's totally antithetical to the idea of democracy and it's a real mess," she said, calling it absurd to reduce democracy to voting every four years.

"That's the whole point of the charter, it outlives and outlasts any one political movement or party...it goes to our fundamental rights as people. So don't trample on those, but especially not for this, this is the pettiest thing."

The constitutional provision Ford plans to invoke, known as the notwithstanding clause, has never been used in the province before and critics have condemned the move, saying the clause was not designed to deal with this kind of issue.

Toronto Mayor John Tory has said invoking the clause is a "gross overreach" of the province's powers, adding city staff will advise councillors at a special meeting on Thursday how the municipality can proceed with the upcoming Oct. 22 election.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath accused the premier of trampling people's rights to pursue a personal vendetta against Toronto, where served one term as a city councillor and unsuccessfully ran for mayor.

"The premier rammed through undemocratic changes to Toronto's elections — changes that he didn't have the guts to mention at all during the election campaign — (and) a judge ruled that that wasn't just reckless and irresponsible, but a violation of people's basic rights," she said in the legislature.

"Now the premier's going to override the charter of rights for the first time in Ontario's history just to get his way."

Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said the premier appears to believe that winning a majority means he is above the law.

"It is wrong for the premier to attack our fundamental charter rights for political gain," he said in a statement. "He is bringing a dangerous view of democracy to Queen's Park, predicated on his belief that he can rule by decree."

Ford has said Tory legislators will be free to vote as they wish on the bill and a major public service union urged them to break from party lines and oppose it.

"The notwithstanding clause isn't something you toss around lightly," Smokey Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said in a statement. "If Conservative MPPs respect democracy and the judicial system, now's their chance to take back their party."

The government is also seeking a stay of the court's ruling as it appeals the judge's decision.

 

[New Person]

Asked whether he believed in the Charter of Rights, the premier said a democratically elected government should not be derailed by a "politically appointed" judge.

既然民选政府可以无视政治任命法官的判决，那么FORD为什么还要动用notwithstanding clause 以取得合法性呢，直接忽略法官的判决嘛。
越来越不上道了。

 

[ccc]

既然民选政府可以无视政治任命法官的判决，那么FORD为什么还要动用notwithstanding clause 以取得合法性呢，直接忽略法官的判决嘛。
越来越不上道了。

这才刚刚开始。

 

[小地主]

Ford需不需要用大炮打蚊子?打完蚊子他还有几发炮弹?

notwithstanding clause
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_33_of_the_Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms

 

[冷笑9声]

传统的市议员制度在少于10个市议员的小城市非常很有效。
现在安省市议会动辄二三十个议员，效率非常差。安省市议会制度需要改革！
虽然福娃冻结市议员人数，并不能完全解决问题。但不是坏事。

不是说不能改革，改革需要政治家。。。从渥太华市的历史上看，搞改革的都是口头造反派，既无知又胆肥那种。。

 

[New Person]

你的问题很不上道嘛。
如果直接忽略法官的判决，别人是不是也可以直接拒绝执行。
既然有 notwithstanding clause 的合法程序，为什么不走。

既然要走合法程序，为什么要说民选政府可以无视政治任命法官的判决？
要走合法程序，就说明要在法律的框架里解决，所以首先要尊重法官的判决。
FOR的做法完全是，对我有利的，我就尊重法律／法官的判决，否则，就反对。