HALIFAX—The mayor of Halifax says the Ontario premier’s plan to employ the seldom-used constitutional loophole known as the “notwithstanding” clause to carry out his plan to reduce the size of Toronto’s city council is “outrageous” and “anti-democratic.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s legislation slashing the number of Toronto councillors to 25 from 47 in the middle of an election was struck down in the province’s Superior Court on Monday on the basis that it violated charter rights. After the ruling, Ford told reporters he’d use the notwithstanding clause to push the legislation through anyway.

Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, better known as the notwithstanding clause, gives federal and provincial governments the power to temporarily overrule some charter rights.

The clause has been used in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta, but this would be the first time for Ontario. It’s never been used in Nova Scotia.

“Politicians use the word outrageous far too often,” Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said Tuesday during a break in a council meeting. “But I think it’s outrageous, frankly, that the first time Ontario uses the notwithstanding clause ... is in an anti-democratic move that I don’t think was well thought out and that certainly, from a process point of view, was quite horrific. I think it’s kind of a sad thing to see.”

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Savage said he’s been asking himself what he’d do in the situation Toronto Mayor John Tory now finds himself in.

“Every day that goes by, it’s tougher and tougher. You’ve got people that don’t know if they’re going to be running to be one of 47 or one of 25, so it’s a really tough thing to do. But I think you’ve got to stick to your principles and fight the fight that you’re fighting,” he said.

“I think Mr. Tory has done the right things all the way through this. I admire his resolve.”

Asked if he’d involve the federal government to push back on the provincial government, Savage said he’s not sure what the federal government could do constitutionally.

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Tory met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday to discuss Ford’s plan.

“I don’t like to see different orders of government using their authority on different orders of government. I just don’t think that’s the way to go,” Savage said. “But when you have a government, as is the case of the Ontario government, that doesn’t seem very interested in having a conversation before moving to action, you gotta do what you gotta do.”

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