“It is, of course, possible to challenge the law on other grounds [that] are not subject to the Charter, but it is very unlikely that’s going to happen before Oct. 22,” Mathen says.

“I don’t see much room of further challenge of this in the courts. You could try and argue that the use of the notwithstanding clause itself is somehow deficient, but the Supreme Court [of Canada] has indicated that the legislature has a pretty broad brush when it comes to the notwithstanding clause.”

The province’s invocation of s. 33 comes after an “unprecedented” decision written by Justice Edward Belobaba, a judge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, who said in a ruling released Sept. 10 that the province’s bill to cut the size of city council “clearly crossed the line.”

The decision, City of Toronto et al v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2018 ONSC 5151, focused on a challenge to the constitutional validity of a provision of Bill 5, presented by the provincial government to change the number of wards and councillors to 25 from 47, according to Belobaba. He said the provisions of the bill were unconstitutional and should be set aside immediately to allow for planned elections on Oct. 22.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, however, said the province will fight the court’s decision, indicating that it’s the courts, not the province, that crossed a line.