An atheism advocacy group is considering filing a human rights complaint after they say their advertisement was rejected by a Vancouver billboard company.
The Centre for Inquiry Canada said their ad, which shows a young woman with the words, “Praying won’t help. Doing will” and “Without God, we’re all good” was rejected by Pattison Outdoor.
“We made every effort to avoid this situation by making the ads as soft and as gentle as possible,” said CFI spokesperson Pat O’Brien, adding that their message was meant to be pro-secular, not anti-religion.
“We just promote our particular world view, which is a humanistic, secular world view,” he said.
O’Brien said Pattison Outdoor told them the ad didn’t meet their guidelines and asked the centre to redesign them.
Pattison Outdoor did not respond to a request for comment.
O’Brien said the company has a monopoly on all the high-traffic outdoor space in downtown Vancouver, which leaves them with few options since they can’t afford to redesign the ad.
They are now considering filing a human rights complaint or other legal options.
In 2009, ads from the Centre for Inquiry’s were banned in cities across Canada, however that decision was overturned in Supreme Court as a violation of freedom of speech.
- Three B.C. men fined, banned from hunting after killing pregnant deer
- B.C. child-killer’s attempt to keep new identity secret draws widespread outrage
- Inquest hears B.C. hostage was lying on her captor before fatal shooting
- ‘We’ve had to make a 180’: What Oregonians say they got wrong with decriminalization
Comments