At an emergency session of city council, local politicians voted to instruct the city lawyer to exhaust all legal avenues to defeat Bill 31, the legislation aimed at reducing the number of councillors from the planned 47 to 25.

(CBC)

Council approved three motions:

1/ to express its strong opposition to Bill 31 and the Ford government’s use of the notwithstanding clause.

2/ to direct the City Solicitor to challenge the legality of Bill 31.

3/ to ask the federal government to exercise the power of Disallowance with respect to Bill 31.

Earlier, the city clerk told the special council meeting  a ”tipping point” has been reached and that it’s now ”virtually impossible” to carry out a fair and democratic election October 22.

Ulli Watkiss has retained independent counsel and will seek legal advice on whether she can put off the election if she feels a fair and democratic one cannot be held next month.