Premier Doug Ford’s government has formally filed a notice of appeal challenging a court ruling deeming its plan to tear out dedicated bike lanes in Toronto unconstitutional.
Environmental law charity EcoJustice and advocacy organization Cycle Toronto said Friday that the Ford government had filed a notice of appeal on Thursday; the government said in July that it would appeal the decision.
In his July 30 ruling, Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas said the province’s move to take out bike lanes would be “inconsistent” with the constitutional protection of life, liberty and security. The ruling said an updated version of the law, passed in June and requiring bike lane reconfiguration instead of removal, would also breach the Charter.
In its appeal, the government said the judge made “multiple errors of law and mixed fact and law,” including erring “in finding that removing a ‘harm-reduction’ measure provided by government could constitute a deprivation in the absence of a constitutional obligation to provide the harm-reduction measure in the first place.”
The organizations said in a statement that the judge’s ruling is sound.
“The strength of the evidence and the reasoning of the decision give the applicants confidence as they head to the Ontario Court of Appeal to defend their win for people in Toronto and across the province,” they said.
The ruling came after months of legal wrangling and a court-imposed injunction that has, so far, prevented the province from following through on its promise to remove bike lanes from Toronto’s Bloor Street West, Yonge Street and University Avenue.
The original legislation — Bill 212 — was fast-tracked through the Ontario legislature in late 2024.
It gave the province the power to assess cities’ plans to install bike lanes moving forward and review infrastructure that had been added in the past half-decade.
It allowed Ontario to reverse the installation of bike lanes, specifically three major streets in Toronto.
Cycle Toronto immediately launched a Charter challenge, claiming the law was “ill-conceived and arbitrary” and would result in an increased number of injuries and deaths.
The Ford government’s 2025 budget included the removal of additional lanes on Avenue Road, effectively replacing the law passed at the end of 2024. The revised law changed Ontario’s language from requiring the “removal” of specific bike lanes to “reconfiguring” them so an extra lane of traffic could be added back in.
Ford blasted Schabas earlier this month, accusing him of “trampling on” democratic rights, while simultaneously repeating his confidence in the legal system.
“This is the most ridiculous decision I’ve ever seen. You talk about the Charter; it’s trampling on the democratic rights of Ontarians that elected a government just a few months ago,” Ford said on Aug. 6.
“I have confidence in the courts, I have confidence in the court of appeals, let’s see what happens from there.… But I’ve never seen a decision like this that a judge overrules the people of Ontario because of ideology — not because of law — ideology.”
— with files from Isaac Callan and Colin D’Mello