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The Ontario government will not pursue a new bill to cut Toronto city council nearly in half if the province’s highest court stays a ruling that killed an earlier version of the legislation, lawyers said Tuesday.

Associate Chief Justice Alexandra Hoy told a packed courtroom that the Court of Appeal will release its ruling Wednesday morning on whether to stay last week’s decision by a judge who found the province’s Bill 5 unconstitutional. That bill was designed to cut Toronto council from a planned 47 members to 25 in the Oct. 22 election.

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Robin Basu, lawyer for the province, said if the court granted the stay, Premier Doug Ford’s government would not proceed with Bill 31 — the replacement bill for the overturned Bill 5. It will also not invoke the Constitution’s controversial notwithstanding clause, which would be needed to push through Bill 31.

“If you grant the stay and it remains in place until Oct. 22, the government will not bring Bill 31 forward for a vote … and in the result, Bill 31 would not be enacted,” said Basu, asserting there would be irreparable harm if a 25-ward election were not held.