A single judge of the Ontario Superior Court has ruled that Premier Doug Ford’s overriding of municipal powers to remove bike lanes in Toronto is unconstitutional because, the judge says, it places cyclists at risk and thus violates Section 7 of the Charter.
The ruling strictly applied a reasonableness test, and the judge decided that since the political decision was contrary to internal provincial civil service findings that removing the bicycle lanes would decrease safety for cyclists, the Charter infringement could not be justified under Section 1: The Oakes Test
The government is filing an appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
There will be plenty of expert commentary regarding constitutional separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches, whether the ruling changes the Charter by creating positive rights, and what it means for government implementation of physical infrastructure changes.
I’ll share those opinions as they are published.
Fundamentally, I question whether it is the role of the judiciary to rule on a political decision of this nature.
I personally find it problematic that the Premier of Ontario is acting as the Mayor of Toronto.
The recourse for this is through the ballot box.
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Published: August 7, 2025
Last updated: August 7, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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