London City Council directed city staff Tuesday to look into a bylaw regulating the display of graphic anti-abortion images on public signs, despite warnings of potential Charter of Rights issues.
Council was voting on referring a staff report back to Civic Administration, which recommended council not change an existing signs bylaw to ban the images and warned that a bylaw regulating the display of signs may be subject to a Charter of Rights challenge based on freedom of expression.
“We’re frankly in the middle of doing a dance on a huge landmine which is ready to blow called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and it’s just something which is needless for us to get involved in,” Ward 10 Coun. Van Meerbergen said, adding that Charter challenges would end very badly for the city.
“We shouldn’t be trying to bubble-wrap some at the expense of basic rights of others.”
Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister, who serves on the Community and Protective Services committee, says it’s incumbent on council to make London a safe place for women and those who identify as women.
“You can have your opinions, absolutely,” McAlister said.
“But I don’t think that you should traumatize people to make your point. I think you can do it in a respectful manner, and I think that we could draft a bylaw that will do that and protect public interest.”
During the debate, McAlister referenced another controversial bylaw, which made it illegal to deliver graphic anti-abortion imagery unless concealed in an envelope with a warning label.
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He asked staff if the bylaw had been challenged since it was passed, which it has not.
“I do agree that that is something that we have to keep in mind, but as the previous council has demonstrated, there are ways of dealing with this issue and respecting the Charter rights.”
Charter rights were at the forefront of Ward 4 Coun. Stevenson’s argument against a yea vote.
“I am not satisfied that in enacting this bylaw, city council would not be violating the Charter right of Londoners, specifically the fundamental freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson added that much of the communication she’s received from her constituents express concerns that the bylaw would infringe on their rights and freedoms.
Taking a more diplomatic approach between the two sides, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis believes this could be a “potential field of trouble,” but council needs to do something about it.
“I do reflect on the past term of council when we brought forward something that did deal with door-to-door delivery… It took us a long time,” Lewis said.
“I don’t want to keep asking staff to spend more and more time on this, but I don’t think asking them to go back and take one more look and come back to us one more time with some ideas and some recommendations is something that is way out of the realm for me to support.”
In a vote of 9-6, council directed staff to bring forward a draft bylaw to a future meeting of the Community and Protective Services committee by the end of June, along with any potential legal issues that may arise.
Councillors Jerry Pribil, Peter Cuddy, Paul Van Meerbergen, Steven Hillier, Steve Lehman, and Susan Stevenson opposed staff drafting a bylaw. All others were in favour.
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