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City reviewing ‘legal options’ in wake of court ruling on pulled bus ads

Judicial panel ruled city's decision-making process was 'unreasonable'
20200215 Guelph Wellington Right to Life KA
Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday file photo

City officials are reviewing their legal options in light of Wednesday’s court ruling that the municipality’s decision to remove three anti-abortion ads from city buses was “unreasonable.”

“The court did not strike the city’s advertising acceptability policy or order the reposting of the advertisements, but directed the city to reconsider the application of its policy with respect to the advertisements at issue,” reads a statement issued by the city.

“The city is carefully reviewing the reasons of the court, considering its legal options, and determining what impact the court’s reasons will have on how the advertising acceptability policy is applied going forward.”

That policy, as described in the judicial panel’s ruling, is largely based on the advice of Ad Standards, an organization which receives and reviews advertising-related complaints from the public.

The city removed three ads placed by Guelph & Area Right for Life – one in December of 2019 and two in March of 2020. The group sought and was granted a judicial review of that decision, resulting in a hearing last summer which attracted participation from national-level organizations.

More information about the ruling an be found here.

“We’re extremely pleased,” Jakki Jeffs, past-president of Guelph & Area Right for Life, said of the ruling. “This has put it on a much more level playing field for us.

“We know this doesn’t just affect our own ads,” Jeffs continued, suggesting the ruling will impact decisions made regarding advertising in other municipalities.

Jeffs is also the executive director of Alliance for Life Ontario.

With the exception of the city, all of the parties involved had declared the court ruling at least a partial victory.

“We’re happy to see the court confirm that we have the freedom to express the pro-life viewpoint,” said Tabitha Ewert, the lawyer who represented the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada, in a news release. 

“The city had failed to recognize the Charter guarantee of freedom to expression by exclusively relying on a private body’s opinion on the ads. But the city can’t opt out of their constitutional responsibilities and we’re thankful the court affirmed that with their ruling.”

ARPA was granted intervenor status in the case, as were the Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHPC) and Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC).

Jim Enos, Ontario president of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada CHPC called the ruling a “mixed bag” of results.

“They found the city’s decision unreasonable. We certainly agree with that,” he said. “I’m very glad to see the free speech element win again.

“I think the courts should have forced them to put (the ads) back up.”

Both the CHCP and ARPA argued against the city’s decision to remove the ads, pointing to freedom of expression among the key reasons.

On the flip side of that coin, the ARCC defended the use of Ad Standards policies when considering complaints about advertising.

“I don’t see it as a loss,” executive director Joyce Arthur said of the ruling, explaining her organization has been actively encouraging municipalities for years to use advice from Ad Standards in deciding whether to pull ads – something the panel agreed could be part of the equation, along with weighing obligations under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “It’s overall encouraging, even though we didn’t win completely.”

While the city considers its options, Jeffs said Guelph & Area Right for Life hasn’t decided if it’ll ask for the those specific ads to be re-posted but said future advertising is certain.


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Richard Vivian

About the Author: Richard Vivian

Richard Vivian is an award-winning journalist and longtime Guelph resident. He joined the GuelphToday team as assistant editor in 2020, largely covering municipal matters and general assignment duties
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