Civil liberties group questions constitutionality of proposed Ottawa 'bubble bylaw'

A Canadian civil liberties group says it is concerned about the constitutionality and effectiveness of a proposed 'bubble bylaw' in the City of Ottawa, which if passed, could restrict demonstrations and protests near certain public spaces.

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A notice of motion tabled Wednesday by Coun. Allan Hubley and supported by Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, is directing staff to study the implementation of a "vulnerable social infrastructure bylaw." The issue will be debated at the next city council meeting on Oct. 30 but likely won't be voted on until the new year.

Sutcliffe said the bylaw aims to restrict demonstrations near certain community spaces, including schools and hospitals, amid an increase in hate crimes.

Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, a lawyer with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, says the organization will be monitoring how the proposed bylaw might be crafted. She said while she understands the mayor's wish to protecting Canadians, existing laws in the Criminal Code may be enough to combat protests that threaten or intimidate.

"If you have a protester engaging in criminal conduct endangering human safety, well law enforcement can and should intervene and the police do not need a new bylaw to do that. There are already offences available through the Criminal Code, for instance criminal harassment, threats, incitement of violence," she told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Live with Andrew Pinsent on Saturday.

McNicoll added that while some limitations near hospitals and places of worship may be acceptable, officials need to think about solutions that “minimally impair” freedom of expression guaranteed to Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"Free speech and the right to protest peacefully are true pillars of our democracy. And they allow everyone in Canada to speak up against issues that they care about so any limit to these Charter protected rights shouldn't be taken lightly," she said.

The Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) say they support the city's decision to study the bylaw.

Coun. Allan Hubley said in an interview with CTV's Austin Lee on Saturday that staff will be looking into the success of bubble bylaws in other jurisdictions and will be working with the Ottawa police and bylaw services to determine how it could be enforced.

"Bottom line here is when people go to churches and hospitals and long-term care, they're going there to find peace and hope for a better day. They don’t need protesters surrounding them and impeding them from entering or exiting a church or mosques or synagogues," he said. "That’s one of the core things a government has to be able to do."

Hubley said the Criminal Code of Canada offers some tools to combat protesters that intimidate or threaten others, but in some cases, doesn’t go far enough.

"We have to make sure that it doesn’t impede on those civil rights to protest peacefully. What we've been seeing is not so peaceful and we have to have as many tools as possible and support the police 100 per cent to get in there and deal with that," he said.

An existing bylaw on protests exist in the City of Vaughan, which restricts demonstrations within 100 metres or a "reasonable distance" from a religious institution, school, childcare centre, hospital or congregate care facility. That bylaw was passed in June amid a rise in demonstrations following the 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel's subsequent armed offensive in Gaza.

McNicoll adds she’s concerned about legislating where Canadians can protest, as it could create a slippery slope.

"There is an issue with picking and choosing locations where peaceful protests are welcome or not, because everyone in Canada should be able to use public, civic space to speak up and to protest," she said.

"There is a real risk that if we allow this to fully expand and expand, the civic spaces that everybody in Canada can use to speak up and freely dissent and express ideas, will slowly shrink more and more."

Bubble zones have traditionally been used to protect abortion services and providers, but some provinces, including British Columbia and Nova Scotia, have expanded the rules to include hospitals and critical-care facilities after demonstrators protesting vaccine and masking mandates grew in the fall of 2021.

The Ontario government passed the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act in 2017 to establish safe zones around facilities that offer abortion services, as well as the homes and offices of abortion providers.

No bubble zone legislation exists at the federal level, though Bill C-3, passed in 2021, makes it a criminal offence to intimidate a person “in order to impede them from obtaining health services” or to intimidate a health professional to impede their duties.

With files from Newstalk 580 CFRA