Law Times

Page 6 August 6, 2018 • LAw times www.lawtimesnews.com Doug Ford settling the score? BY KADY O'MALLEY N o sooner had Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled his plan to shake up Toronto city politics by eliminating nearly half the current council seats than the jokes were f lying fast and furious within the federal parliamentary precinct. As it appeared, at least to the casual (or, alternately, card-carrying partisan) observer, that the newly installed pre- mier might be using the powers of his new office to settle a few scores still sim- mering from his days on the municipal circuit — which included, among other things, a failed bid for the mayoral post currently held by John Tory — imagine the possible hijinks that could ensue if a prime minister decided to take a simi- lar approach when facing obstreperous provincial governments! Or as the satirical Twitter account @TrudeauGoogles so succinctly put it: "Could I reduce number of premiers"? At the risk of spoiling the punchline, the answer is, of course, an emphatic no: Under the Constitution, provinces and territories are inherently protected from such mischievous meddling from the next f loor up in Canada's triple-decker jurisdictional model. In fact, even when it comes to mapping out the federal electoral boundar- ies that determine the total number of seats to be allo- cated to each region, neither the government nor the cur- rent House occupants are involved in the initial stages of the process. Instead, it is handled via 10 independent three- person commissions — one for each province — made up of a judge and two members appointed by the speaker, who are tasked with examining popula- tion changes using the latest available census numbers and according to an established formula to ensure equal rep- resentation. After a lengthy round of public con- sultations, the commission puts for- ward a proposed redraw, which is then subjected to still more public comment before being submitted to the Com- mons for a final review. The rationale behind the aggressive- ly arms-length approach is obvious: By politely but firmly shooing politicians — and political parties — away from the table during the drafting process, there's far less risk of an outbreak of U.S.-style gerrymandering by attempts to rejig the bor- ders to give a particular can- didate or party a head start at the polls. That quintessentially Ca- nadian common sense is, however, conspicuously ab- sent when it comes to writ- ing — and rewriting — the laws governing the federal electoral process itself. From imposing — or loosening — limits on campaign spending and dona- tions to setting the parameters on voter outreach and access at the polling sta- tions, it's up to the House of Commons — and, of course, the Senate — to decide the ground rules on how future elector- al battles will be fought. These are decisions that, by their very nature, will have a direct and personal impact on the future career prospects of every one of the 300-odd MPs currently on the Commons roster, which is why the ensuing debate inevitably breaks down (or, more accurately, melts down) along razor-sharp party lines. For obvious and entirely under- standable reasons, every party — par- ticularly, but not exclusively, those not currently in a majority position — ends up convinced that the other parties are plotting against them, which, in fair- ness, is almost certainly sometimes al- beit not always the case. But as awkward and inelegant as it may be to put our federal elected of- ficials in charge of the federal electoral machinery, at least the Ford govern- ment's gambit on the local hustings reminds us that it could be worse: We could, for instance, give them even more leeway to manipulate the underlying process, which, given the tendency for politicians to push their fingers into ev- ery pie within reach, might make it the best of all realistically possible worlds. And since Ontario uses the same map to divvy up the available electoral turf, it can at least reassure nervous vot- ers that, while Toronto may be at the mercy of Queen's Park, provincial rid- ings are protected from such rearrange- ments — even by its own legislature. LT uKady O'Malley is a member of the par- liamentary press gallery in Ottawa and writes about politics, procedure and pro- cess for iPolitics. She also appears regu- larly on CBC television and radio. 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Karen Lorimer Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Brown Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabrielle Giroday Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anita Balakrishnan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Cancilla CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leah Craven Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phyllis Barone Production Co-ordinator . . . . . Jacqueline D'Souza Electronic Production Specialist . . . Derek Welford Things fall apart T here's a huge push and pull between the will to centralize — resources, goods, power — and the forces against it. Many of the issues facing Ontario lawyers highlight the tension be- tween an authoritative body in power and those resisting or decrying its efforts to corral others. Take the number of lawyers voicing their opposition to a plan by the province to reduce the number of councillors elected in the City of Toronto. Rocco Achampong, a Toronto lawyer who's running in Ward 13, has filed a court action in an attempt to stop the move by Premier Doug Ford and his government to make the cuts. Another lawyer and municipal candidate for Ward 13, Renatta Austin, says she supports the city in pursuing a legal challenge. Lawyer Wade Poziomka makes a wise distinction. "This will ultimately dilute access to political representation for Ontarians because there will less representatives for the same num- ber of people. While I do not see this as an illegal move, I do see it as an anti- democratic one," he says. In this issue of Law Times, there are also stories that focus on is- sues personal injury lawyers perceive with the Licence Appeal Tribu- nal, after a recent ruling where it was revealed that a lawyer acting for a crash victim received an anonymous letter containing details on the inner workings of the adjudicative body. And then there are the with- ering words of Justice Edward Morgan over the actions of a provincial assessment officer involved in a matter involving a 92-year-old woman who had disputed a bill with her lawyer. "A person in her 90's has rights, just like a more robust person, even if she does not make the kind of personal appearances that she might have done at an earlier age," Morgan said. "To assume . . . that she somehow attaches mini- mal importance to a proceeding by hiring a lawyer and having him appear in her place, is to display a blindness for the human condition." The centre — whether it is the newly elected provincial government or the LAT — may not be able to hold. LT The Hill Kady O'Malley Kady O'Malley

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