Council to debate bylaw restricting protests near religious institutions at next meeting

Ottawa city councillors will debate a plan to study a "bubble zone" bylaw at the next council meeting after a notice of motion was tabled Wednesday.

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

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"No one should feel threatened or intimidated when attending their place of worship, school, community centre, or any other gathering space. Our mosques, churches, synagogues, and other institutions play a crucial role in supporting some of our most vulnerable community members, including seniors and children," Sutcliffe wrote on social media.

Sutcliffe added there was a 19 per cent increase in hate crimes in 2023 targeting Muslim, Jewish, LGBTQ+ and other groups in Ottawa.

"That is not just a statistic; it’s a call to action," he wrote.

The motion, tabled by Coun. Allan Hubley and supported by the mayor, directs staff to study the feasibility of implementing a "vulnerable social infrastructure bylaw" in Ottawa and report back with findings in the new year. It has not yet been approved and will be debated during the Oct. 30 meeting. 

The bylaw, often known as a bubble bylaw, has been introduced in other cities and jurisdictions across Canada.

The City of Vaughan passed a similar measure in June that would restrict demonstrations within 100 metres or "a reasonable distance" from a religious institution, school, childcare centre, hospital or congregate care facility.

The measure was passed amid a rise of demonstrations and protests following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel's subsequent armed offensive in Gaza.

Bubble bylaws have been previously used in Canada to protect safe abortion access and healthcare centres.

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.

Similar laws exist restricting demonstrations near abortion facilities exist in British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

Members of Ottawa's Jewish community are applauding the mayor's decision to explore a bylaw like the one currently in place in Vaughan.

Adam Silver, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, says he's seen first-hand some of the intimidating rhetoric coming from demonstrations in the capital.

He referenced one rally in particular that was held outside the Hillel Lodge where witnesses heard disturbing chants.

"Chanting 'go back to Europe' out front of a senior's residence where Holocaust survivors live," he said.

"To be intimidating and physically imposing in areas where there are vulnerable individuals and faith-based organizations operating their daily businesses is totally inappropriate and un-Canadian."

Silver says he was encouraged to hear the city was exploring a 'bubble zone' bylaw.

"It would certainly distance those protests from targets whether they're against the Jewish community, the Muslim community, LGTBQ2S+, other communities, certainly it would distance people from those places," he said.

Meantime, a 'bubble zone' bylaw is something the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) has wanted for years.

"This, we called for in 2019 so; it is a huge step forward to see the municipal government is finally taking this into account," said Fatema Abdalla, marketing, and communications manager for the NCCM.

"It's just about protecting our places of worship and ensuring the safety of them."

Critics, however, say this type of a bylaw is unnecessary and some argue it could even be unconstitutional, calling into question its impact on freedom of speech.

Sutcliffe said that is why staff will be directed to study the bylaw before any decisions on introducing one are made.

"Anything we do would have to be constitutional and, again, that's why we're doing a feasibility analysis to determine what, if anything, would be possible," he said. "There is no specific bylaw that's been proposed. It's a request to the city staff to come back with some options and we can consider them at that time, and obviously, part of the analysis will be the legal implications of whatever we decide to implement."

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Austin Lee