bill 31 ontario

Doug Ford holding midnight meeting to try to slash Toronto city council

Premier Doug Ford's government will be holding a midnight meeting this Monday after a failed attempt to finally cut the size of Toronto city council.

The Ontario government met for an uncommon weekend sitting this morning to discuss Bill 31, coined the Efficient Local Government Act, brought forward by the Ford administration to expedite the slashing of councillors to 25 from 47. 

Opposition MPPs rejected the call to support the legislation within an hour, with the Green Party, Liberals, and NDP all petitioning to delay the law's passing.

The PC saw no alternative but to ask the house to reconvene at 12:01 a.m. this Monday morning to continue the debate. 

Meanwhile, activists from the Council of Canadians banded outside of Queen's Park during today's meeting today gathering signatures in protest of  Ford's use of the notwithstanding clause. 

The first iteration of this bill, Bill 5, has already been struck down by an Ontario Superior Court judge, who has said that it violates the charter rights of both candidates and voters in Toronto's upcoming municipal election. 

The government views the finalization of city council cuts as urgent as any further delay would likely cause the election to be postponed.

Lead photo by

Doug Ford


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Huge invasion of enormous venomous spiders could soon 'parachute' into Ontario

Royal Canadian Mint's new releases include a coin with a jaw-dropping price tag

It will be a huge headache to get to popular Toronto beach for at least a month

Canada's largest spider is a fearsome predator that grows to 9 cm and lives in Ontario

Motorist ridiculed for driving on Toronto sidewalk but some disagree on who to blame

Toronto man claims thieves now breaking into cars to steal gas pedals in viral video

People holding dead animal bodies turned heads next to busy Toronto destinations

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line