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Unfair doesn’t equal unconstitutional, and the judge who equated the two almost certainly got it wrong.

So says Ontario’s top court, ruling Wednesday that when voters go to the polls in Toronto Oct. 22, they will do so in a 25-ward election.

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The province and its largest city have been engaged in bitter battle over the number and size of the city’s wards since when Premier Doug Ford’s newly elected Conservative government passed Bill 5 last month, reducing the number of wards from 47 to 25.

That the change was sudden, perceived as motivated by Ford’s own experience as a city councillor and that of his late brother, Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and came mid-election campaign only further outraged some residents and candidates.

Some of them, and lawyers for the city, went to court earlier this month, saying the bill was unconstitutional.

On Sept. 10, Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Belobaba agreed with them, declaring that the province had “substantially interfered” with freedom of expression rights of both candidates and voters.