The Ford government says it will appeal a court ruling which found its plan to tear out dedicated bike lanes in Toronto is unconstitutional.

On Wednesday afternoon, a government spokesperson confirmed they would be appealing the ruling — handed down earlier in the day — which said removing bike lanes from Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue would “breach” the Charter.

In his 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.

“Any steps taken to ‘reconfigure’ the target bike lanes that removes their protected character for the purpose of installing a lane for motor vehicles in order to reduce congestion, would be in breach of s. 7 of the Charter,” the ruling said.

The Ministry of Transportation said the Ford government would appeal.

“We were elected by the people of Ontario with a clear mandate to restore lanes of traffic and get drivers moving by moving bike lanes off of major roads to secondary roads,” they said in a statement.

“To deliver on that mandate, we will be appealing the court’s decision.”

The ruling comes 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.

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In an earlier injunction ruling, Justice Schabas cited the public interest in protecting cyclist safety and a lack of evidence backing the government’s claim that removing the lanes would reduce congestion.

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.

A cyclists’ advocacy group immediately launched a Charter challenge, claiming the law was “ill-conceived and arbitrary” and would result in an increased number of injuries and deaths.

“This reckless legislative act infringes the rights of people who ride bikes, other road users, and/or pedestrians in the City of Toronto under s. 7 of the Charter by depriving them of life and security of the person contrary to principles of fundamental justice,” the court application, filed by CycleTO, claimed.

Ford has long pointed to “nasty, terrible” bike lanes as one of the sources of traffic congestion and has advocated for separated routes to be moved to secondary routes instead of arterial roads.

He has insisted he is not opposed to the infrastructure but believes it should not be added to major routes.

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.

In its court application, CycleTO claimed secondary roads “do not exist,” that there was “no rational connection” between the government’s gridlock-reducing intent and potential effect, and suggested that the government is aware of the potential harms.

In his ruling, Schabas said CycleTo had successfully argued that removing bike lanes would “put people at increased risk of harm and death” when they ride in the city.

“The evidence is clear that restoring a lane of motor vehicle traffic, where it will involve the removal of the protected, or separated, nature of the target bike lanes, will create greater risk to cyclists and to other users of the roads,” part of the ruling said.

It also said removing bike lanes would not help reduce congestion.

“The evidence shows that restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion, as it will induce more people to use cars and therefore any reduction in driving time will be short-lived, if at all, and will lead to more congestion,” the ruling said. “This makes the law arbitrary.”

It said the points offered by the government were “weak anecdotal evidence and expert opinion which is unsupported, unpersuasive and contrary to the consensus view.”

The ruling does not affect the parts of the law which require provincial approval for new bike lanes, which will remain in place.

In a statement, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s office said she believed decisions about the locations of bike lanes should be made by local, not provincial, officials.

“Mayor Chow maintains that the City of Toronto and its elected council should be the ones making decisions about municipal infrastructure,” they wrote.

“Toronto City Council has voted to formally oppose the province’s plans to override the City’s authority and remove the lanes.”

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Police in Les Collines-de-l’Outaouais, Que., say divers have recovered the body of a man who drowned after attempting to save a woman who was in distress in the Ottawa River over the weekend.

Police say the 53-year-old man jumped off a pontoon to rescue the woman who was floundering near Mohr Island, which lies in the middle of the waterway, almost directly on the border between Ontario and Quebec, about an hour’s drive from the Ottawa-Gatineau area.

Police say the man, who hails from Pontiac, Que., was not wearing a safety vest as he sank below the water.

The woman was rescued by another man, according to media reports.

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After the man disappeared in the water, police say firefighters and boaters from both sides of the border sprang into action and began to search for him.

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RCMP responding to summer drownings

On Monday, police said the Ottawa Police Nautical Squad had criss-crossed the area for much of the night but had failed to find the missing man.

Officers from MRC des Collines and the Sûreté du Québec continued the search on Tuesday before SQ divers found the man’s body at around 12:45 p.m.

They say it took the divers about an hour to bring his body to shore and confirm his identity.

Police say the death is currently believed to be accidental, but they are waiting for the result of a coroner’s autopsy.

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A Toronto woman is going viral for giving a whole new meaning to “fast food.”

Izzy Petraglia, a freelance writer and publicist, turned a TTC subway commute into an extraordinary act of generosity and community building by hosting a free buffet for passengers on Monday.

Petraglia brought her passion project to life when she and a few friends set up a full buffet table aboard a Line 1 subway train at around 7 p.m.

Inspired by a viral New York City subway Thanksgiving dinner video she saw months ago, Petraglia said she had long dreamed of recreating something similar, ahead of launching her own cookbook.

“I saw the video and thought, ‘That would be cool to do one day.’ A few weeks ago, I finally said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do it,’” she told Global News.

Petraglia said she prepared all the food herself the day of, serving a variety of dishes and treats, including spicy miso cucumber salad, pancit bihon, sweet and spicy tofu, noodles and cookies.

“The ube white chocolate cookies were by far the biggest hit,” she said.

The culinary journey began at Glencairn Station and ran up to Finch and back down again, lasting nearly two hours.

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Along the way, curious passengers began to take notice and participate in the feast.

“At first, people were just laughing or taking photos,” Petraglia said. “But then some came up to grab plates.”

“One woman had just worked a 12-hour shift and told us she could cry from how hungry she was. That meant a lot to me, and when I realized that’s why I did it.”

A handwritten flyer listing all ingredients was handed out with each plate, ensuring passengers with allergies had full transparency.

While Petraglia did receive some backlash online over hygiene concerns, she said her team made hygiene a top priority, regularly sanitizing and serving the food themselves rather than letting people self-serve.

“I was careful, we sanitized, we listed all allergens, served people, and we did it as safely as possible,” she told Global News.

The subway feast wasn’t just a one-off stunt, according to Petraglia, who plans to do another one in a few months. “I love gathering people over food,” she said. “Everyone on the TTC is in their own little world. I wanted to get people out of that and talking to one another.”

In the meantime, Petraglia is continuing to develop her cookbook, bake for friends and dream up new ways to connect with her city, one plate at a time.

Amid rising inflation, a worsening housing crisis, and growing food insecurity in Toronto, Petraglia said she’s grateful her initiative could provide a warm meal and a moment of connection to those who needed it.

“Food is how we connect, it always has been,” Petraglia said.

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